BYOB

Have you ever wondered what happens to all (500 billion to a trillion) of those plastic bags we use?

If you think, like I did, that most of them are recylced, you would be wrong. Only 1% are recycled because it costs more to recycle one than it costs to produce a new one.

So what happens to them? Many, of course, go to landfills; but our landfills are not overwelhmed with them because as a 1975 study (US Academy of Sciences) showed that oceangoing vessels dumped over 8 million pounds of plastic annually. And we can be certain that over 30 years later that number has increased. Plastic bags have been found floating north of the Artic Circle near Spitzbergen, and as far south as the Falkland Islands. (British Antarctic Survey)  Ten per cent of the debris washed up on the US coastline consists of plastic bags.

The effect on wildlife has been deadly. 200 different species of sea life (whales, dolphins, seals, and turtles) die because of plastic bags which they mistake for food. On the other hand, smaller sea life and birds become entangled in the bags and also die.

Plastic bags are photodegradable; over time they break down into smaller, more toxic petro-polymers--not something we need in our environment.

Since each one of us uses 288 plastic bags a year, avoiding their use is a simple effort an individual can make to improve our environment.  And, since paper bags also result in using a valuable natural resource, the obvious solution is reusable cloth bags.

Plastic bags are made of petroleum based products. China, for example,  has banned free plastic bags, and they predict that this will save 37 million barrels of oil each year.

Consider BYOB--bring your own bag (reusable cloth bags, of course).