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Thursday, June 25, 2009

Facts about plastic bags / Trash in the Pacific Ocean

We (should) all know that plastic bags contribute to litter and can take a long, long, long time to decompose ... or break down in nature.

Here are some interesting facts about plastic bags ... an a lot of reasons to consider using compostable bio degradable bags.

"Regular polyethylene-based plastic bags can take well over 100 years to degrade and are not compostable, ... Less than 2% of all plastic bags ever get recycled-most end up in landfill. ... Studies indicate that 100,000 marine animals and 2 million birds die each year from ingesting or being caught up in plastic debris.

I have been reading a good bit about HUGE swarms of plastic in the ocean and will post on those when I get a chance. In the meantime below is a sobering You Tube video on plastic in the pacific off the west cost of the US.

The video comes from the Algalita Marine Research Foundation. Since the video was made in 2001 and the amount of trash has significantly increased.




A very moving video. Two questions ...
>>> what were your reactions?
>>> has this spurred you to consider / reconsider using plastic bags and instead use a reusable bag?


Via:
Ecolife Products LINK
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