I didn't see it posted but this is also known as "Plastic Island".
On another board I just did a post regarding this issue with a video posted and the photograph of the dying 50 year old turtle. My success in that post made at least more people aware, but more importantly I got at least 6 known people to start using reusable grocery bags.
I also coined my new phrase, "Humans are like a runaway train, that will not stop until the tracks run out". Figure it out for yourself.
Top Facts - Consumption
# Each year, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide. That comes out to over one million per minute. Billions end up as litter each year.
# According to the EPA, over 380 billion plastic bags, sacks and wraps are consumed in the U.S. each year.
# According to The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually. (Estimated cost to retailers is $4 billion)
# According to the industry publication Modern Plastics, Taiwan consumes 20 billion bags a year - 900 per person.
# According to Australia's Department of Environment, Australians consume 6.9 billion plastic bags each year - 326 per person. An estimated 0.7% or 49,600,000 end up as litter each year.
Top Facts - Environmental Impact
# Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, whales and other marine mammals die every year from eating discarded plastic bags mistaken for food.
# Plastic bags don't biodegrade, they photodegrade - breaking down into smaller and smaller toxic bits contaminating soil and waterways and entering the food web when animals accidentally ingest.
# As part of Clean Up Australia Day, in one day nearly 500,000 plastic bags were collected.
# Windblown plastic bags are so prevalent in Africa that a cottage industry has sprung up harvesting bags and using them to weave hats, and even bags. According to the BBC, one group harvests 30,000 per month.
# According to David Barnes, a marine scientist with the British Antarctic Survey, plastic bags have gone "from being rare in the late 80s and early 90s to being almost everywhere from Spitsbergen 78 degrees North [latitude] to Falklands 51 degrees South [latitude]."
# Plastic bags are among the 12 items of debris most often found in coastal cleanups, according to the nonprofit Center for Marine Conservation.
Top Facts - Solutions
# WOW! In 2001, Ireland consumed 1.2 billion plastic bags, or 316 per person. An extremely successful plastic bag consumption tax, or PlasTax, introduced in 2002 reduced consumption by 90%. Approximately 18,000,000 liters of oil have been saved due to this reduced production. Governments around the world are considering implementing similar measures.
