Some of the smarter folks are pushing for the biodegradable bags and plastics. San Francisco has already banned plastic bags altogether. Many of the biodegradable plastics like PLA (which is what my products are made of) will break down into soil in as little as 90 days when properly composted. You cannot find ANY petrol-based plastics that will do that.
10% of the oil used in the U.S. every day is used for the manufacture of plastics, and a large portion of those are not even recyclable, let alone biodegradable.
Actually it has been found that plastic degrades a lot faster than thought. Some grades of plastic bags in less than 20 years. However this is not to downplay the article as this has presented a whole new plethora of problems. It has been found that micro-organisms living on the beaches and seabed of of the British Isles are being killed off by plastic micro particles in the sand. A lot of these creatures ingest sand to feed and move about. The plastic remains lodged in the gut and they starve to death.This has knock on effects for the food chain. In Ireland to combat this problem of environmental pollution, they have introduced a charge on plastic bags. At 22c [Euro] per bag, people have ...
Actually it has been found that plastic degrades a lot faster than thought. Some grades of plastic bags in less than 20 years. However this is not to downplay the article as this has presented a whole new plethora of problems. It has been found that micro-organisms living on the beaches and seabed of of the British Isles are being killed off by plastic micro particles in the sand. A lot of these creatures ingest sand to feed and move about. The plastic remains lodged in the gut and they starve to death.This has knock on effects for the food chain. In Ireland to combat this problem of environmental pollution, they have introduced a charge on plastic bags. At 22c [Euro] per bag, people have not been slow to re-use or use alternative bags. Money talks.
Plastic water bottles is going to be worse than that. In fact, it already is but the bags got started before the bottles. this is just another small example of how our inventiveness and consumerism is wrecking our planet.
If each person would request paper bags when buying things, use the containers you can purchase from the grocery stores when you are ready to leave the store then refold the paper bags to reuse them the next time you go shopping for items, it would help keep the pollution down just a little, plus offset the cost the store is charging you for the bags in the first place. Every little bit helps. Elly
Be kind to the planet and purchase some reusable bags to do your shopping. It may not be convenient for everything but at least for your groceries. You can find them at most grocery stores. I got some today for only $1.50 each and they hold way more than a plastic bag.