2013 Materials and Bills - click here
Plastic bags are deadly to the wildlife that mistake them for
food or become entangled. Turtles, whales, seals, birds, and fish suffer a
painful death as the plastic wraps around their intestines or they choke
to death. Some of these animals are already threatened due to issues such
as over fishing or habitat loss. Plastic bag litter only further hurts
their chances for survival.
Inadvertent litter: Plastic bags are so aerodynamic that even
when disposed of properly, they can still blow away and become litter.
They easily escape from garbage trucks, landfills, boats, and average
consumer’s hands, and then carried by the wind into ponds, lakes and
rivers eventually making their way into our oceans.
Plastic bags take up to 1000 years to degrade:
Plastic bags don't biodegrade; they simply break into ever smaller plastic
bits, never disappearing from our environment. These small bits, known as
microplastics, attract toxins and carcinogens, which eventually
enter the food chain, and displace food supplies in the world’s oceans.
Only 5% of plastic bags are recycled: But even if the recycling
rate were doubled, tripled or quadrupled, the end result would still be an
unacceptable negative impact on wildlife. We simply can't recycle
our way out of this problem.
Click here to tell your State Legislators that you support a ban on
plastic bags.
