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Don’t Carry Around That Baggage
Emily Lynne Ion
Friday, June 20, 2008
Plastic bags have a pervasive presence in our everyday lives. They hold our groceries, line our trashcans, clean up after our animals, and carry our lunches to work. Once used and discarded, plastic bags disappear into land and ocean fills, and more come to take their place. But their post-consumer life has surprisingly far-reaching consequences for wildlife, the environment, local economies, and even our health.
A little-known statistic is that each disregarded plastic bag can take up to 1000 years to decompose. In fact, plastic bags do not biodegrade, they photodegrade. This means they break down slowly into toxic microscopic particles called petro-polymers. The particles contaminate soil and waterways, sometimes entering the food chain and endangering animal health and, eventually, that of humans as well.
The average American family of four tosses out about 1500 plastic bags a year. Worldwide, billions end up as litter. They flow into bodies of water via drains and sewage pipes, and account for 10% of debris washing up on U.S. coastlines. Birds become terminally entangled in plastic bags found in their habitat, and sea life die after mistakenly ingesting them as food.
We've all seen the images of plastic bags unnaturally mixed into animal habitats. To counteract this effect, many people recycle them. While a very good start, recycling is only a temporary fix for a larger economic problem. The cost to recycle plastic bags far outweighs the cost to produce them, hardly providing incentive to do so. According to San Francisco's Department of the Environment, it costs $4000 to process and recycle one ton of plastic bags, which can then be sold on the commodities market for $32. Thus, it is estimated that only 1% of plastic bags are recycled in the United States.
Effective initiatives by environmental groups and world governments have reduced consumption with excellent results. Most European countries tax the use of plastic bags, encouraging people to bring their own from home. Such a country is Ireland, which has reduced consumption by 90% over a relatively short amount of time. Read more about this remarkable initiative and others being enacted. Other countries, such as China, have gone as far as enacting a ban against the use of free plastic bags. In 2007, San Francisco became the first U.S. city to ban plastic bags, with other cities considering following suit.
The sustainable solution is to move away from plastic bags and toward reusable options. A reusable bag can save six plastic bags a week, and if only 1 out of 5 people did this 1,330,560,000,000 plastic bags would be saved over our lifetime! Replace your plastic bags with cloth or mesh bags, and keep them in convenient places, like the trunk of your car or by the front door, for quick access. Some stores, like Whole Foods, will even reward you with a small discount.
But you don't have to sacrifice convenience. Another option for replacing plastic bags without losing their functionality is to purchase biodegradable ones made of non-genetically modified corn. They degrade at the rate of an apple (far less than the 1000 years plastic bags require!). Try Bio Bag USA or Reusablebags.com for a variety of functions and styles. Technically, you could still have your bag, and eat it too.
Posted by Ruth on 04/06 at 08:13 PM
I refuse plastic bags when I go shopping all the time. I have a pile of reusable bags, including some I have crocheted for myself. I do recycle the plastic bags when I have them, but why even use them or get them.
Buy reusable bags that you like. Trader Joe’s has a good selection of them —or check for some Totes on various websites including www.etsy.com. Or make one for yourself—there are patterns for sewing, crocheting and knitting them in books and on the Internet.
Reusable bags are the way to go—you know it is really funny—my Grandmother grew up using reusable cotton bags for shopping—that use to be the way to shop for everyone!!