Why Plastic Bags Suck:
- Plastics have only been around for about a century – yet there is already a Texas–sized vortex of plastics in the Pacific Ocean
- In the United States alone, we use a million plastic bags every 5 minutes
- Once plastic bags are in a landfill, it can take up to 1,000 years to fully degrade. On the way, they slowly photo-degrade into toxic bi-products.
- Plastic bags cause over 100,000 sea turtle and other marine animal deaths annually when animals mistake them for food.
Why Reusable Bags Don’t:
- Reusable bags are sturdier than disposable bags.
- Each reusable shopping bag has the potential to eliminate the use of 1,000 plastic bags over its lifetime.
- Reusable bags are durable enough to be used for much more than just shopping trips
- Reusable tote bags are washable, non-toxic, and hypoallergenic
- Some retailers offer incentives for using reusable bags instead of plastic – including Target, Whole Foods, and Giant Supermarkets
Sources:
http://houston.cbslocal.com/2013/01/31/think-green-thursdays-benefits-of-using-reusable-bags/
http://www.justdoone.org/videocontest/facts
http://www.earthwisebags.com/why-buy-reuseable/
Learn how to keep reusable totes clean (Huff. Post)
Still Need Some? Target is giving them out for Earth Day!
If you have extra plastic bags around, you can still help by reusing them, and keeping them out of landfills/the ocean. Here’s a list of 36 ways to do so (most of which are fairly practical)