Bag It! Notes

Bag it notes

Everything is made of plastic!

1. It takes 12 million barrels of petroleum to make 1 year's worth of plastic bags used in America. 

2. The plastic bag began being used in grocery stores in 1977, today (at time of video) we use a million plastic bags each minute.

3. Plastic bags are technically the # 1 consumer item in the world. 

4. There are organizations formed by chemical companies which are fighting to prevent the ban and elimination of plastic bags, one is called "progressive bag affiliates"and one has a website called savetheplasticbag.com. 

5. 800 pounds of garbage/recycling is generated every year, per person, from packaging alone.

6. Reusable diapers can prevent up to 1 ton of landfill waste and save roughly $1,200 per year, per baby. 

7. Bottled water may surpass soda sales in the next few years (maybe it already has), and at the time of this film, Americans consumed 2 million plastic bottles every 5 minutes. 

8. Plastic bottles are usually "downcycled" into something that cannot be recycled again. 

9. The EU requires that chemicals must be proven safe before use, but in the US, chemicals are 'innocent until proven guilty', and must be proven harmful in order to be removed from the consumer market. 

10. Exposure to the chemical family of phthalates is shown to lead to decreased sperm count and increased femininity in boys, and these chemicals are found in all sorts of personal care products and baby toys. 

Things you can do:

don't drink bottled water

buy used

bring your own container

recycling comes after reducing and reusing