I’ve started on my New Year’s resolution. Yes, after getting mad at myself for contributing to pollution, I’ve turned the corner and I’m now taking my reusable bag into stores with me to bring out my purchases of groceries or hardware or office supplies or whatever it is. No more plastic bags for me!
So why is reducing plastic bag usage so important? Here are a few example reasons:
Plastics don’t biodegrade. And if they find themselves in the ocean, they photo-degrade into little pieces of themselves. In fact, it’s estimated that plastic sized particles outnumber plankton 6 to 1 in our oceans! It’s mistaken as food by marine animals and some of them die.
Plastic bags are single biggest contributor by far in a growing global crisis in our oceans. Plastic bags get wrapped around boat propellers, sucked into marine engines, etc
Plastic waste can be found everywhere: in landfills, in the streets, and in our oceans. Less than 10% of all plastic is recycled.
Plastic bags, which are made of polyethylene, use about 8% of our valuable oil resources.
The U.S. alone uses more than 100 billion plastic bags each year – that’s more than 300 bags per person!
By taking in my reusable bag to the store, I’m doing my part to try to reduce pollution, kill fewer marine animals, reduce the number of bags produced, and reducing the amount of petroleum used to make more plastic bags (which coincidentally also contributes to our air quality problem). It’s a healthier environment for all of us.
So how do we convince others to do the same thing? Education of course. Which brings me to today’s story.
Recently, seven local Nashville high schools kicked off a plastic bag recycling contest. Over the holiday break, students collected plastic bags and turned them in to a central location this week. The goal was to see which high school turned in the most plastic bags; the winning school will receive a park bench made from…get this…recycled plastic bags! The students will find out which school collected the most on Earth Day, April 22, 2019. You can read more about it and watch the video here:
ttps://www.newschannel5.com/news/mnps-students-participate-in-recycling-competition
What a GREAT way to educate young people on sustainability topics of recycling, air and water pollution etc.!!
Kudos to the all of the principals at these 7 elementary schools! Well done.
#sustainability #recycling #kickinggas #plasticbags #education #elementaryschools