Each year, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide. That comes out to over 1 million per minute. Billions end up as litter each year.
And paper bags aren’t free of controversy: According to www.reusablebags.com, “In 1999, 14 million trees were cut to produce the 10 billion paper grocery bags used by Americans that year. Paper bag production delivers a global warming double-whammy: Forests (major absorbers of greenhouse gases) have to be cut down, and then the subsequent manufacturing of bags produces greenhouse gases.”
The solution seems to lie in bags that you can use over and over again. The only caveat: remembering to bring them to the store – any store – with you. And if you keep a stash of reusable bags in your backpack or car trunk, you’ll always be prepared.
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nice blog Say, keep up the great green work.
4u2bgreen: GREAT IDEA! Now just get past the teabaggers. ;-)
To speak to the numbers mentioned in the original post ... 500 billion is a difficult number to grasp. It isn't on my radar, that's for sure. I suggest looking into the work of Chris Jordan. He's a photographer who's exhibits tackle the incredible problem of human consumption. Can fathom how many plastic soda bottles Americans use every 20 seconds?
Visit http://www.chrisjordan.com/ and find out just what that looks like. He includes plastic bags, barrels of oil, toothpicks, lightbulbs ... all the things we take for granted. He also speaks to social and political issues ... like how many breast augmentations are had in the US every year and how many American citizens were put in prison in 2005. His work is brilliant and so worth looking into. I hope to see it in person one day ... if he was just travel as far north as Boston!!
You can see a few blog posts I've done on Jordan at the link below.
xo
Say
Visit my blog!: http://greenleadingothersbyexample.blogspot.com
The hardest part of going bag free is remembering to put your reusables back into the car after unloading!
My new year's resolution was to never again accept a shopping bag from a store. And if I forget to bring my bags, I have to carry everything out to the car balanced in my arms as punishment.
So far this year I've only had 2 slip ups and both involved raw chicken.
Can't we put a tax on bags and raise money for the State?