An Action Network for Environmental Change


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Ban Plastic Bags

Mission: To encourage everyone to stop using plastic bags.
Founder: Nicole sorochan, Victoria
Description: Data released by the United States Environmental Protection Agency shows that somewhere between 500 billion and a trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year.

Less than 1% of bags are recycled. It cost more to recycle a bag than to produce a new one.

“There's harsh economics behind bag recycling: It costs $4,000 to process and recycle 1 ton of plastic bags, which can then be sold on the commodities market for $32”

A study in 1975, showed oceangoing vessels together dumped 8 million pounds of plastic annually. The real reason that the world's landfills weren't overflowing with plastic was because most of it ended up in an ocean-fill

Plastic bags account for over 10 percent of the debris washed up on the U.S. coastline

Plastic bags photodegrade: Over time they break down into smaller, more toxic petro-polymers which eventually contaminate soils and waterways. As a consequence microscopic particles can enter the food chain. The effect on wildlife can be catastrophic. Birds become terminally entangled. Nearly 200 different species of sea life including whales, dolphins, seals and turtles die due to plastic bags. They die after ingesting plastic bags which they mistake for food.

Details: If we use a cloth bag, we can save 6 bags a week. That's 22,176 bags in an average life time. If just 1 out of 5 people in our country did this we would save 1,330,560,000,000 bags over our life time.

Bangladesh has banned plastic bags

China has banned free plastic bags

Ireland took the lead in Europe, taxing plastic bags in 2002 and have now reduced plastic bag consumption by 90%.

In 2005 Rwanda banned plastic bags.

Israel, Canada, western India, Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Taiwan, and Singapore  have also banned or are moving toward banning the plastic bag.

On March 27th 2007, San Francisco becomes first U.S. city to ban plastic bags. 

Oakland and Boston are considering a ban

Plastic shopping bags are made from polyethylene: a thermoplastic made from oil...

Reducing plastic bags will decrease foreign oil dependency, China will save 37 million barrels of oil each year due to their ban of free plastic bags.

It is possible...

So NO to Plastic!

Tags: waste  pollution  plastic  bags
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News & Discussions

More and More Boys Born With Deformed Genitals -- What's to Blame?
by Nicole sorochan :: 2 years ago
Seeking Chemical Culprits for Those Deformities By: Joan Melcher Print The term "endocrine disruptor" had not been co...
Throwing out the throwaway economy
by guest account :: 2 years ago
Throwing out the throwaway economy  Posted 9:48 AM on 21 Aug 2009 by Lester Brown Photo: E...
Study says plastic decomposes at sea and becomes toxic
by Nicole sorochan :: 2 years ago
Study says plastic decomposes at sea Aug 19th, 2009 | WASHINGTON -- Environmentalists have long denounced plastic as ...
Canadian Companies Doing Their Part
by Ken Shum :: 2 years ago
Sierrans Help Keep Calgary Clean   The Sierra Calgary Green Team lent a helping hand for the City of Calgary&rsqu...
NASA Satellite Detects Red Glow to Map Global Ocean Plant Health
by Nicole sorochan :: 2 years ago
Researchers have conducted the first global analysis of the health and productivity of ocean plants, as revealed by a un...
Midway - The Battle For The Planet Is Inside Us
from Nicole sorochan :: 1 year ago
From Midway Island to the Gulf of Mexico, the birds are calling us to shift our relationship with the planet and ourselves. How can we pierce the protective walls of our hearts and open them up......
Connected to: Ban Plastic Bags  Earth Day Every Day  Coastal Plastic watch
The Majestic Plastic Bag - Hilarious Mockumentary, Brilliantly Narrated by Jeremy Irons
from Sean Low :: 1 year ago
HealtheBay | 14 August 2010 Help stop our 19 billion bag-a--year habit in California and put an end to plastic pollution. Tell your Senator to support the AB 1998 at......
Connected to: Water Impacts  Emperilled Ecosystems  Pop Culture Campaigns  Urban Recycling  Ban Plastic Bags  Direct Action  Coastal Plastic watch  Fired Up Media  Endangered Species

Our Today is Forever
from Stephen Thomson :: 1 year ago
Plastic, a petroleum derivative - from production and distribution to pollution and consumption - set to Queen's Who Wants To Live Forever. Our PLASTIC problem is our OIL problem. It all comes......
Connected to: Ban Plastic Bags
Plastic in the Pacific
from Nicole sorochan :: 1 year ago
Imagine every person on earth had 100 pounds of plastic. Thats how much new plastic will be manufactured in 2010. Sadly, much of that will end up in the ocean within a massive area dubbed the Pacific......
Connected to: Water Impacts  Ban Plastic Bags  Coastal Plastic watch

Year 6 At Middle Row Primary School
from Nicole sorochan :: 2 years ago
Year 6 at Middle Row Primary School add their voice to the many who are calling for urgent action to tackle climate change....
Connected to: Limiting E-Waste: Technology Recycling  Ban Plastic Bags  Eco Documentary Festival  Earth Day Every Day
The "No Impact Man"
from Kieran Nelson :: 2 years ago
Author Colin Beavan spoke to Harry Smith about his new documentary and book "No-Impact Man" based on a one year experiment to live life with his family with as little environmental impact as possible....
Connected to: Organic Farming  Greenhouse Gases  Household Power Saving Tips  Pop Culture Campaigns  Urban Recycling  Composting  Green Gardening  Buying Green  Ban Plastic Bags  Green Innovation  Pedal Power  Repower America  Green Marketing & Messaging  Fired Up Media  URBAN GARDENS

Israel Clean Coast Project of Undeclared Beaches
from Ken Shum :: 2 years ago
Litter abounds in many of the country's undeclared beaches, with especially low marks going to the coasts at Palmachim in the center of Israel. Israel's open undeclared beaches span some 130......
Connected to: Water Impacts  Ban Plastic Bags  Coastal Plastic watch
Plastic Bag Recycling in Kenya
from Sean Low :: 2 years ago
Rocketboom Field Correspondent Ruud Elmendorp reports on a local, Nairobi, Kenya-based effort to recycle plastic bags into fencing poles. ...
Connected to: Urban Recycling  Ban Plastic Bags  Green Innovation  Coastal Plastic watch

Travel green!
from Judd Vinet :: 2 years ago
A few quick things you can do while traveling to keep it green. Any other suggestions? Leave a comment! ...
Connected to: Household Power Saving Tips  Buying Green  Ban Plastic Bags  Earth Day Every Day
Can Recycling Prevent Malaria? - Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai
from Sean Low :: 2 years ago
Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai argues that a community-based approach may succeed in reducing waste while also curbing the spread of malaria. She explains that mosquitoes often breed in pools formed......
Connected to: Urban Recycling  Ban Plastic Bags  Earth Day Every Day  Coastal Plastic watch

by Nickie
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