Just thought these were great holiday gift ideas from www.stopglobalwarming.org:
Happy Holidays! And here's to a green New Year! Below are our very own green suggestions!
Cool Planet Jewelry: Each piece of our partner Cool Planet Jewelry's Stop Global Warming collection is made from recycled precious metals using earth-friendly manufacturing techniques. Men's and women's collection includes bracelet, necklace, cufflinks, and stud set. Wear the jewelry and spread the word on this important issue.
Simple Flip Flops: Simple Shoes offers a StopGlobalWarming.org edition of their Toepeeka flip-flop, made with ecologically-friendly materials and packaged in a bio-degradable bag. Proceeds from the sale benefit our organization.
Greensender.com: A great green movement starter pack! Included are a few useful items that will help anyone to incorporate green practices into their daily lives. The Greensender box includes an eco-friendly aluminum SIGG water bottle; a reusable grocery bag; an energy-efficient cfl light bulb; and an organic cotton t-shirt.
41Pounds.org: Help a friend or family member cut out their junk mail, and have a tree planted in their name.
The Down to Earth Guide to Global Warming: A book for kids of all ages with facts about global warming, loads of photos and illustrations, and suggestions for combating global warming in homes, schools, and communities.
Spiralfoundation.org: The non-profit S.P.I.R.A.L. Foundation (stands for Spinning Potential Into Resource And Love) offers beautiful handmade goods crafted from found objects and recycled scraps. Click here to check out their wide variety of recycled products that will make great gifts for everyone on your list.
Experience/Donation Gifts: What better way to help the environment than to give gifts that don't require packaging? Try tickets to concerts or sporting events, or a museum membership. Even better, give a gift membership to an environmental organization. Your donation helps support groups that fight on your behalf for the good of our planet. A few suggestions: NRDC; The Sierra Club; and the National Wildlife Federation.
HOLIDAY TIPS
Ditch the Plastic Bag: Another useful idea for your holiday shopping trips is to bring your own reusable canvas bag, foregoing those one-time plastic shopping bags. Here in Los Angeles, December 20, 2007 will be recognized as "A Day Without A Bag" as part of a grassroots education and action effort to encourage consumers to not accept plastic bags while holiday shopping.
Skip the Gift Wrap: Whatever you give, be sure to cut back on holiday waste by using alternatives to paper gift wrapping, almost none of which is made from recycled materials. Use the least amount of packaging and wrapping as possible. Newspaper, fabric scraps, scarves, reusable boxes, tins and jars are great wrapping ideas. If you do buy wrapping paper, always choose recycled and save wrap and bows for re-use next year.
Go Towards the LED: Watch your holiday energy bills flatline by switching to strands of LED bulbs - they use 90% less electricity than traditional holiday bulbs.
Shop in the Buff: Online, that is. Despite their size, e-commerce warehouses use 1/16th of the energy used to operate retail stores. And even overnight air shipping uses 40% less fuel than the average car trip to the store.
For more of their great holiday tips, check out Idealbite.com.
Keep Marching!
Laurie David
Founder
StopGlobalWarming.org
Friday, December 7, 2007
Friday, November 30, 2007
Clogged by plastic bags, Africa begins banning them
By Sarah Simpson
Fri Nov 30, 3:00 AM ET
Once a month, John Ebiwari drags an iron rake through the open sewer that runs in front of his house in Nigeria's sprawling commercial capital of Lagos and scoops out the discarded plastic bags that block the flow of bubbling black filth.
On the last Saturday of each month Lagos police officers armed with big sticks make sure residents fulfill their legal duty and clean up their neighborhoods for 'Sanitation Day.'
The clean up provides a minimum of order in Lagos. But, in a move more drastic than seen in most Western countries, several African nations are tackling the scourge by banning or restricting use of plastic bags.
The United Nations estimates that only 10 percent of rubbish in Africa makes it to dumps, with the rest left to rot in communities or burned in acrid bonfires.
As Africans increasingly live in cities, waste management has become a real development problem.
Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda have passed laws banning or restricting the use of a main culprit: the ordinary plastic grocery bag.
By the end of the year, Kenya is expected to follow suit.
More than 48 million plastic bags are produced in Kenya each year, according to the UN.
"We need to ban these flimsy plastic bags, which we only use once and dispose of, because all of them make their way into the environment," says environmentalist Joseph Gondi of Kenya's prominent Green Belt Movement, founded by 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai. "You may collect them and say you are taking them to the dump site, but we do not have well managed landfill sites here in Kenya."
The bags are more than a nuisance. Blocked sewers help spread disease. Farmers complain that precious livestock are choking to death on plastic bags, ruining their livelihoods, while rubbish-strewn streets and countryside are counter-productive for Kenya's tourism-based economy.
A clean-up is under way. Five years ago the downtown area of Kenya's capital Nairobi was dirty and unkempt, say residents.
But an army of street cleaners, lots of new litter bins, and a tree-planting program – spearheaded by the Green Belt Movement – have had a dramatic impact for the better.
The government has already passed legislation that will usher in a 120 percent tax on plastic carrier bags and packaging, and a ban on plastic bags less than 30 micrometers thick.
On the outskirts of the spruced-up city center, well away from the safari routes of khaki-clad tourists, most of Nairobi's 3 million residents live in slums.
"Plastic bags are a big problem, one of our worst in life today," says Khamasi Josephat Bandi who lives and works for a small charity in Nairobi's Kibera slum. He supports the proposed ban, and deep among the tin shacks, where pit latrines empty into a broad sewage channel, it's easy to see why.
The channel, which before it became clogged with rubbish was regularly flushed clean by rain, is a stomach churning mass of feces and plastic bags. When the rains come, standing water is a breeding ground for malarial mosquitoes.
"Plastic bags only recently came to Kenya," says Gondi. "Only 15 years ago, women shopped with baskets, and I remember buying fish and sweet potatoes wrapped in banana leaves, not a flimsy plastic bag."
In Nigeria, where plastic bags are legal, women prepare and sell food that customers take away in plastic bags so thin many items have to be double wrapped.
The only affordable clean drinking water comes in plastic sachets, too. Deola Asabia, who runs an environmental charity in Lagos, says there is little hope of a ban on plastic bags in Nigeria until the population has access to clean drinking water.
"The government realizes that they can't get rid of plastic bags," says Mr. Asabia, because without access to clean drinking water "people would be up in arms."
Asabia and other members of her church have set up a charity called Changing Our World Foundation, which has adopted the Obalende neighborhood of Lagos, where Ebiwari was cleaning.
With sponsorship from a local bank and cooperation with the Lagos State Waste Management Authority, they're making sure that Sanitation Day is as widely adhered to as possible.
Copyright © 2007 The Christian Science Monitor
Fri Nov 30, 3:00 AM ET
Once a month, John Ebiwari drags an iron rake through the open sewer that runs in front of his house in Nigeria's sprawling commercial capital of Lagos and scoops out the discarded plastic bags that block the flow of bubbling black filth.
On the last Saturday of each month Lagos police officers armed with big sticks make sure residents fulfill their legal duty and clean up their neighborhoods for 'Sanitation Day.'
The clean up provides a minimum of order in Lagos. But, in a move more drastic than seen in most Western countries, several African nations are tackling the scourge by banning or restricting use of plastic bags.
The United Nations estimates that only 10 percent of rubbish in Africa makes it to dumps, with the rest left to rot in communities or burned in acrid bonfires.
As Africans increasingly live in cities, waste management has become a real development problem.
Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda have passed laws banning or restricting the use of a main culprit: the ordinary plastic grocery bag.
By the end of the year, Kenya is expected to follow suit.
More than 48 million plastic bags are produced in Kenya each year, according to the UN.
"We need to ban these flimsy plastic bags, which we only use once and dispose of, because all of them make their way into the environment," says environmentalist Joseph Gondi of Kenya's prominent Green Belt Movement, founded by 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai. "You may collect them and say you are taking them to the dump site, but we do not have well managed landfill sites here in Kenya."
The bags are more than a nuisance. Blocked sewers help spread disease. Farmers complain that precious livestock are choking to death on plastic bags, ruining their livelihoods, while rubbish-strewn streets and countryside are counter-productive for Kenya's tourism-based economy.
A clean-up is under way. Five years ago the downtown area of Kenya's capital Nairobi was dirty and unkempt, say residents.
But an army of street cleaners, lots of new litter bins, and a tree-planting program – spearheaded by the Green Belt Movement – have had a dramatic impact for the better.
The government has already passed legislation that will usher in a 120 percent tax on plastic carrier bags and packaging, and a ban on plastic bags less than 30 micrometers thick.
On the outskirts of the spruced-up city center, well away from the safari routes of khaki-clad tourists, most of Nairobi's 3 million residents live in slums.
"Plastic bags are a big problem, one of our worst in life today," says Khamasi Josephat Bandi who lives and works for a small charity in Nairobi's Kibera slum. He supports the proposed ban, and deep among the tin shacks, where pit latrines empty into a broad sewage channel, it's easy to see why.
The channel, which before it became clogged with rubbish was regularly flushed clean by rain, is a stomach churning mass of feces and plastic bags. When the rains come, standing water is a breeding ground for malarial mosquitoes.
"Plastic bags only recently came to Kenya," says Gondi. "Only 15 years ago, women shopped with baskets, and I remember buying fish and sweet potatoes wrapped in banana leaves, not a flimsy plastic bag."
In Nigeria, where plastic bags are legal, women prepare and sell food that customers take away in plastic bags so thin many items have to be double wrapped.
The only affordable clean drinking water comes in plastic sachets, too. Deola Asabia, who runs an environmental charity in Lagos, says there is little hope of a ban on plastic bags in Nigeria until the population has access to clean drinking water.
"The government realizes that they can't get rid of plastic bags," says Mr. Asabia, because without access to clean drinking water "people would be up in arms."
Asabia and other members of her church have set up a charity called Changing Our World Foundation, which has adopted the Obalende neighborhood of Lagos, where Ebiwari was cleaning.
With sponsorship from a local bank and cooperation with the Lagos State Waste Management Authority, they're making sure that Sanitation Day is as widely adhered to as possible.
Copyright © 2007 The Christian Science Monitor
Monday, November 26, 2007
Will future home furnaces be more efficient?
By Mark Clayton
Fri Nov 23, 3:00 AM ET
Amid volatile and rising prices for natural gas, the Bush administration has unveiled new efficiency standards for home furnaces and boilers.
But there are problems: After six years in development, the new national standards will barely result in any energy savings – and won't take effect for another eight years.
Under the new rule, the US Department of Energy (DOE) in 2015 will require nonweatherized gas-fired furnaces – the kind most used for home heating – to be 80 percent energy efficient. That's up from the current mandate of 78 percent.
"These amended standards will not only cut down on greenhouse-gas emissions, but they also allow consumers to make smarter energy choices that will save energy and money," Andy Karsner, DOE's assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy, said in a statement Monday.
But that slight uptick won't have much impact on natural gas use since 99 percent of furnaces sold are already at that level, industry data show.
Energy-efficiency groups quickly denounced the new standard as a Thanksgiving "turkey."
"We need bold action from our government," Kateri Callahan, president of the Alliance to Save Energy, said in a statement. "But instead, for the second time in a row, [the DOE] has issued a very weak efficiency standard that once again leaves important energy and CO2 savings on the table at a time when we can least afford continued waste."
In October, the department released an efficiency standard for transformers, the ubiquitous gray cylinders on utility poles, that was weaker than what energy-efficiency advocates and even many manufacturers had wanted.
One reason for the weak standards may be the deadline pressure the DOE is under. A 2006 court order required that the department produce 18 new efficiency standards for appliances by 2011. In a ruling last month, the US district court rejected a DOE request for more time to evaluate a tougher furnace standard.
"Our goal is to get the best standard out there that's possible," says Jonathan Shradar, a DOE spokesman. "We do have a deadline set by the court and [the] final rule was issued under that consent decree."
Some companies that rely on natural gas had fought for a tougher standard. An analysis by Dow Chemical Co. and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) showed that a tougher rule could drive down natural-gas prices in the long term and buoy the US economy.
Under the DOE's new efficiency standards, consumers will save $700 million and prevent 7.8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from wafting into the atmosphere, over 24 years, DOE says. Had DOE instituted a 90 percent standard, consumers would save at least $11 billion and prevent the release of 141 metric tons of CO2 over the same time period, according to separate analyses from the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy as well as Dow Chemical and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Frustrated by the pace of federal standards setting, at least four states – Maryland, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island – have already set their own higher boiler and furnace standards, which mandate higher efficiency.
But home-furnace manufacturers applauded the new federal standard, arguing that upgraded components costing hundreds of dollars per furnace would have been needed to meet the tougher standards.
"We supported the proposed rule and we support the final rule," says Joseph Mattingly, vice president and general counsel for the Gas Appliance Manufacturers Association.
Fri Nov 23, 3:00 AM ET
Amid volatile and rising prices for natural gas, the Bush administration has unveiled new efficiency standards for home furnaces and boilers.
But there are problems: After six years in development, the new national standards will barely result in any energy savings – and won't take effect for another eight years.
Under the new rule, the US Department of Energy (DOE) in 2015 will require nonweatherized gas-fired furnaces – the kind most used for home heating – to be 80 percent energy efficient. That's up from the current mandate of 78 percent.
"These amended standards will not only cut down on greenhouse-gas emissions, but they also allow consumers to make smarter energy choices that will save energy and money," Andy Karsner, DOE's assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy, said in a statement Monday.
But that slight uptick won't have much impact on natural gas use since 99 percent of furnaces sold are already at that level, industry data show.
Energy-efficiency groups quickly denounced the new standard as a Thanksgiving "turkey."
"We need bold action from our government," Kateri Callahan, president of the Alliance to Save Energy, said in a statement. "But instead, for the second time in a row, [the DOE] has issued a very weak efficiency standard that once again leaves important energy and CO2 savings on the table at a time when we can least afford continued waste."
In October, the department released an efficiency standard for transformers, the ubiquitous gray cylinders on utility poles, that was weaker than what energy-efficiency advocates and even many manufacturers had wanted.
One reason for the weak standards may be the deadline pressure the DOE is under. A 2006 court order required that the department produce 18 new efficiency standards for appliances by 2011. In a ruling last month, the US district court rejected a DOE request for more time to evaluate a tougher furnace standard.
"Our goal is to get the best standard out there that's possible," says Jonathan Shradar, a DOE spokesman. "We do have a deadline set by the court and [the] final rule was issued under that consent decree."
Some companies that rely on natural gas had fought for a tougher standard. An analysis by Dow Chemical Co. and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) showed that a tougher rule could drive down natural-gas prices in the long term and buoy the US economy.
Under the DOE's new efficiency standards, consumers will save $700 million and prevent 7.8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from wafting into the atmosphere, over 24 years, DOE says. Had DOE instituted a 90 percent standard, consumers would save at least $11 billion and prevent the release of 141 metric tons of CO2 over the same time period, according to separate analyses from the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy as well as Dow Chemical and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Frustrated by the pace of federal standards setting, at least four states – Maryland, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island – have already set their own higher boiler and furnace standards, which mandate higher efficiency.
But home-furnace manufacturers applauded the new federal standard, arguing that upgraded components costing hundreds of dollars per furnace would have been needed to meet the tougher standards.
"We supported the proposed rule and we support the final rule," says Joseph Mattingly, vice president and general counsel for the Gas Appliance Manufacturers Association.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Recycle, Recycle, Recycle! Office Depot Celebrates America Recycles Day with Top Ten Ways to Recycle
I have no affiliation to Office Depot, but it was interesting to learn that they are trying to promote "green" awareness.
Monday November 12, 8:47 am ET
Multi-Channel Retailer Sells Approximately 4,000 Products with Environmental Attributes
DELRAY BEACH, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Office Depot, a leading global provider of office products and services, is celebrating “America Recycles Day” (November 15) this year by focusing on its growing array of “green” products and services, while offering customers more ways to recycle in the workplace. Office Depot sells more than 3,500 products with recycled content and hundreds more featuring other environmental attributes. The Company also provides a wide-range of “green” solutions, including its new Tech Recycling Service and its signature Ink and Toner Cartridge Recycling and Battery/Cell Phone Recycling programs.
"Office Depot’s environmental strategy is structured around a vision to increasingly buy green, be green and sell green,” said Yalmaz Siddiqui, Environmental Strategy Advisor for Office Depot. “It’s important that we continually improve Office Depot’s own sustainability as well as that of our suppliers and customers. The best way to accomplish this is by providing our stakeholders with innovative products and services that are also green.”
Office Depot has compiled a list of the top ten ways to recycle at home and in the office.
1. Buy recycled paper and print on both sides. When using paper in the office, print on both sides of the sheet and recycle the paper when you are finished. Today, only half of the paper used in North America is recycled. By recycling one ton of paper, you can save 17 trees, almost 7,000 gallons of water and more than three cubic yards of landfill space.
2. Recycle your outdated technology. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Americans throw out two million tons of e-waste each year. Avoid adding to that waste by recycling your old technology. Office Depot's Tech Recycling Service allows customers to recycle their "tech trash" at Office Depot stores nationwide for a small fee. For more information go to www.officedepot.com/techrecycling.
3. Make recycling bins readily available. Make sure your home and office are outfitted with recycling bins for paper, plastic and metal. Keep them out in the open and label them appropriately. Sometimes the convenience factor is all that is needed.
4. Recycle your empty ink and toner cartridges. Almost eight cartridges are thrown out in the U.S. every second of every day. That's almost 700,000 cartridges per day. Instead, recycle your ink and toner cartridges at Office Depot. For every eligible empty cartridge returned (up to 25), customers receive a $3 coupon.
5. Buy remanufactured ink and toner cartridges. Office Depot brand remanufactured cartridges cost on average 15% less than the national brand equivalent and come with a 100% no risk quality guarantee. Each remanufactured cartridge keeps approximately 2.5lbs of metal and plastic out of landfills and saves about a half gallon of oil.
6. Recycle old newspapers laying around the office. When finished reading the newspaper, either leave it for someone else to read or recycle it! It can take decades for newspapers to biodegrade when sent to landfills.
7. Look for the recycled option in all the products you buy. It's not just paper that is recycled! Now available at Office Depot stores and online at www.officedepot.com/buygreen are recycled packing peanuts, recycled scissors, recycled paper clips and much more.
8. Buy rechargeable batteries. It takes 1,000 regular batteries to equal the lifespan of one rechargeable battery. When you are discarding your batteries, recycle them (along with your cell phones) at a local Office Depot store.
9. Purchase rewritable CDs and DVDs so that you can reuse them from project to project. Instead of printing out a lengthy document, save it to an 8GB Ativa Flash Drive, which can hold approximately 320,000 pages!
10. Reuse your morning coffee cup. Or better yet buy a mug to avoid the waste caused by throwing away the paper or Styrofoam. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, it will take approximately one million years for Styrofoam to biodegrade.
Monday November 12, 8:47 am ET
Multi-Channel Retailer Sells Approximately 4,000 Products with Environmental Attributes
DELRAY BEACH, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Office Depot, a leading global provider of office products and services, is celebrating “America Recycles Day” (November 15) this year by focusing on its growing array of “green” products and services, while offering customers more ways to recycle in the workplace. Office Depot sells more than 3,500 products with recycled content and hundreds more featuring other environmental attributes. The Company also provides a wide-range of “green” solutions, including its new Tech Recycling Service and its signature Ink and Toner Cartridge Recycling and Battery/Cell Phone Recycling programs.
"Office Depot’s environmental strategy is structured around a vision to increasingly buy green, be green and sell green,” said Yalmaz Siddiqui, Environmental Strategy Advisor for Office Depot. “It’s important that we continually improve Office Depot’s own sustainability as well as that of our suppliers and customers. The best way to accomplish this is by providing our stakeholders with innovative products and services that are also green.”
Office Depot has compiled a list of the top ten ways to recycle at home and in the office.
1. Buy recycled paper and print on both sides. When using paper in the office, print on both sides of the sheet and recycle the paper when you are finished. Today, only half of the paper used in North America is recycled. By recycling one ton of paper, you can save 17 trees, almost 7,000 gallons of water and more than three cubic yards of landfill space.
2. Recycle your outdated technology. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Americans throw out two million tons of e-waste each year. Avoid adding to that waste by recycling your old technology. Office Depot's Tech Recycling Service allows customers to recycle their "tech trash" at Office Depot stores nationwide for a small fee. For more information go to www.officedepot.com/techrecycling.
3. Make recycling bins readily available. Make sure your home and office are outfitted with recycling bins for paper, plastic and metal. Keep them out in the open and label them appropriately. Sometimes the convenience factor is all that is needed.
4. Recycle your empty ink and toner cartridges. Almost eight cartridges are thrown out in the U.S. every second of every day. That's almost 700,000 cartridges per day. Instead, recycle your ink and toner cartridges at Office Depot. For every eligible empty cartridge returned (up to 25), customers receive a $3 coupon.
5. Buy remanufactured ink and toner cartridges. Office Depot brand remanufactured cartridges cost on average 15% less than the national brand equivalent and come with a 100% no risk quality guarantee. Each remanufactured cartridge keeps approximately 2.5lbs of metal and plastic out of landfills and saves about a half gallon of oil.
6. Recycle old newspapers laying around the office. When finished reading the newspaper, either leave it for someone else to read or recycle it! It can take decades for newspapers to biodegrade when sent to landfills.
7. Look for the recycled option in all the products you buy. It's not just paper that is recycled! Now available at Office Depot stores and online at www.officedepot.com/buygreen are recycled packing peanuts, recycled scissors, recycled paper clips and much more.
8. Buy rechargeable batteries. It takes 1,000 regular batteries to equal the lifespan of one rechargeable battery. When you are discarding your batteries, recycle them (along with your cell phones) at a local Office Depot store.
9. Purchase rewritable CDs and DVDs so that you can reuse them from project to project. Instead of printing out a lengthy document, save it to an 8GB Ativa Flash Drive, which can hold approximately 320,000 pages!
10. Reuse your morning coffee cup. Or better yet buy a mug to avoid the waste caused by throwing away the paper or Styrofoam. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, it will take approximately one million years for Styrofoam to biodegrade.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
The Real Cost of "Free"
Well over a billion single-use plastic bags are given out for free each day. But as the old adage says, nothing comes for free. Here are some facts to illustrate the actual costs paid by our environment and society for the fleeting convenience of unlimited, free, single-use plastic bags. To see the real costs, we must look at the "cradle to grave" multiple impacts and the effects of each phase of a bag's life.
Phase 1: Production Costs
The production of plastic bags requires petroleum and often natural gas, both non-renewable resources that increase our dependency on foreign suppliers. Additionally, prospecting and drilling for these resources contributes to the destruction of fragile habitats and ecosystems around the world.
The toxic chemical ingredients needed to make plastic produces pollution during the manufacturing process.
The energy needed to manufacture and transport disposable bags eats up more resources and creates global warming emissions.
Phase 2: Consumption Costs
Annual cost to US retailers alone is estimated at $4 billion.
When retailers give away free bags, their costs are passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices.
Phase 3: Disposal and Litter Costs
Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, whales and other marine mammals die every year from eating discarded plastic bags mistaken for food. Turtles think the bags are jellyfish, their primary food source. Once swallowed, plastic bags choke animals or block their intestines, leading to an agonizing death.
On land, many cows, goats and other animals suffer a similar fate to marine life when they accidentally ingest plastic bags while foraging for food.
In a landfill, plastic bags take up to 1,000 years to degrade. As litter, they breakdown into tiny bits, contaminating our soil and water.
When plastic bags breakdown, small plastic particles can pose threats to marine life and contaminate the food web. A 2001 paper by Japanese researchers reported that plastic debris acts like a sponge for toxic chemicals, soaking up a million fold greater concentration of such deadly compounds as PCBs and DDE (a breakdown product of the notorious insecticide DDT), than the surrounding seawater. These turn into toxic gut bombs for marine animals which frequently mistake these bits for food.
Collection, hauling and disposal of plastic bag waste create an additional environmental impact. An estimated 8 billion pounds of plastic bags, wraps and sacks enter the waste stream every year in the US alone, putting an unnecessary burden on our diminishing landfill space and causing air pollution if incinerated.
Phase 1: Production Costs
The production of plastic bags requires petroleum and often natural gas, both non-renewable resources that increase our dependency on foreign suppliers. Additionally, prospecting and drilling for these resources contributes to the destruction of fragile habitats and ecosystems around the world.
The toxic chemical ingredients needed to make plastic produces pollution during the manufacturing process.
The energy needed to manufacture and transport disposable bags eats up more resources and creates global warming emissions.
Phase 2: Consumption Costs
Annual cost to US retailers alone is estimated at $4 billion.
When retailers give away free bags, their costs are passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices.
Phase 3: Disposal and Litter Costs
Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, whales and other marine mammals die every year from eating discarded plastic bags mistaken for food. Turtles think the bags are jellyfish, their primary food source. Once swallowed, plastic bags choke animals or block their intestines, leading to an agonizing death.
On land, many cows, goats and other animals suffer a similar fate to marine life when they accidentally ingest plastic bags while foraging for food.
In a landfill, plastic bags take up to 1,000 years to degrade. As litter, they breakdown into tiny bits, contaminating our soil and water.
When plastic bags breakdown, small plastic particles can pose threats to marine life and contaminate the food web. A 2001 paper by Japanese researchers reported that plastic debris acts like a sponge for toxic chemicals, soaking up a million fold greater concentration of such deadly compounds as PCBs and DDE (a breakdown product of the notorious insecticide DDT), than the surrounding seawater. These turn into toxic gut bombs for marine animals which frequently mistake these bits for food.
Collection, hauling and disposal of plastic bag waste create an additional environmental impact. An estimated 8 billion pounds of plastic bags, wraps and sacks enter the waste stream every year in the US alone, putting an unnecessary burden on our diminishing landfill space and causing air pollution if incinerated.
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