Let’s start with the alarming figure.
500,000,000,000
It’s the number of plastic bags used worldwide each year – almost a million plastic bags used every minute.
Amazing, overwhelming, shocking, gross – what can you do? Recycle yours.
But not just the plastic bag, recycle all of them – grocery bags, produce bags, dry cleaner bags, ziplock bags, clear plastic film, the shrink wrap around that new iPhone, the clear plastic the movers/shippers wrapped around all those boxes, or stones and tile for your yard. All of it, just about any clear plastic. But how? A separate garbage pail, a canvas bag under the sink, maybe just a plastic bag – one in the kitchen, one in the laundry room – collect them from everywhere.
In a week, you’ll be both disgusted and pleased by the amount of clear plastic you keep out of the landfill. Once a week, or once a month, stuff it all into one plastic bag – bring it to the grocery store for recycling, or put it on top of your recycling bin for collection, if your city accepts plastic bags. Do not put them individually into your recycling bins -individual plastic bags jam the conveyor belts of the recycling center’s manual inspection stations. Bag them, and put them on top of the bin.
All these plastic bags will come back, as carpets, backyard decks, even shopping carts.
Do your part, put this valuable plastic back to use, not in the landfill. And, keep bringing those canvas bags to the grocery store; keep saying no to a bag at the convenience/hardware/candy store; keep putting your kid’s lunch in tupperware instead of bags.