Useful for Minutes, Deadly for Years
Trillions of Plastic Items Turn Into Toxic Pollution
Recently enacted bans on plastic drinking straws have garnered headlines and inspired naysayers and would-be comics to brand such moves as overreaction and fodder for jokes.
On the surface it sounds silly to think little things like plastic straws, water bottles and grocery bags could cause a big problem for our oceans and sea dwellers. But little things mean a lot when we’re talking about items that are used so frequently – items that seem to magically make their way to the sea.
Banning straws is just one way to stem the tide of plastic pollution fouling our oceans and coastlines. Turns out those wispy plastic bags handed out by every Tom, Dick and 7-Eleven are produced at the staggering rate of 5 trillion a year. Yes, that’s TRILLION, as in …
5,000,000,000!
To get an even greater appreciation of the enormity of this problem, check out the blazing fast bag counter at TheWorldCounts.com. Then take a moment to watch this “mockumentary” of the life and migration of a plastic bag. Its deadly serious message is narrated in a tongue-in-cheek fashion by Academy Award-winning actor Jeremy Irons.
The biggest problem with single-use plastic bags? They stick around for a long, long time. In fact, they never really go away. Instead, they break down into itty, bitty microplastics that are toxic to marine life and we humans who love the sea and seafood.
Just how many is too many?
FIVE TRILLION plastic bags equates to 160,000 EACH SECOND – that’s enough to circle the globe 7 times an hour and to drape an area twice the size of France.
So, what can you do to banish the bag or, at least, diminish its detrimental assault on nature?
BYOB (Bring Your Own Bag): Most stores have no problem with you stuffing your purchases into reusable bags. In fact, many offer such totes for sale for a few pennies.
RECYCLE: Many stores offer depositories for your old shopping bags – you just need to remember to bring them with you when you return to the store!
BULK UP! When you buy in bulk you tend to use fewer bags in the long run.
PICK UP! When you spot discarded plastic bags floating lazily down the street or across a store parking lot, chase them down and discard of properly.
Through our COAST is Clear initiative, we aim to educate our fellow man and to help the war on plastic pollution by donating 5% of the purchase price of certain curated products to organizations working to remove this unsightly junk from nature. So, shop till you drop – and help us drop the amount of plastic polluting our planet.