Maybe you're an avid recycler who sifts out every can from the communal dumpster, or maybe you just toss your newspapers into the right bin once in a while. Either way, what do you do with plastic bags? (Those flimsy rustling bags they hand out at almost every store these days) Don't toss them out!
Some facts from www.reusablebags.com:
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.
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° North [latitude] to Falklands 51° 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.
Plastic bags are becoming a major source of pollution, but they seem so innocuous most people don't notice. Not many places recycle plastic bags either. But there's some small comfort: Wal-Mart (of all places) takes and recycles plastic bags! So do a number of grocery stores, though they don't generally advertise it. So, if you aren't into toting around a canvas bag for grocery shopping, at least save the plastic and take it in later.
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What we do is store up our unused plastic bags in a special container desinged just for such purpose. They're handy to have around ;)
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If a society is willing to give freedom for temporary security, they deserve neither.
I forgot where .. but there's a fundraiser that will recycle your plastic bags for you (and pay you) if you fold them up and ship them. They provide labels and everything. So that may be a good fundrasier for a school club or community group that helps save the environment.
I think it was called "envirobag."
Thanks! I'll look into that--I'm in a campus group that tries to promote recycling, when we can (pun unintended).
Haha. Yeah, there are tons of other things besides the (cans/bottles and newspapers) that can be recycled.
When I was staying at Princeton, they had battery recycling jars in the laundry rooms. That may be an interesting project as well.
I always use the plastic bags for my school lunches but this is quite interesting information.
We have cats and our garbage service requires the cat litter to be double bagged. The plastic gorcery sacks work great. We always have enough bags for the littler and the bathroom trash can. I'd like to say we're recycling but I think its just easier and cheaper to use the gorcery sacks. I mean they are free and the ones you buy cost 2.30 for 16. Plus you get the benefit of thinking you are recycling.
~maybee sinclair~