Introduced just over 30 years ago in 1977, the ugly truth about our plastic bag addiction is that society's consumption rate is now estimated at well over 500,000,000,000 (that's 500 billion) plastic bags annually, or almost 1 million per minute.
The Greenhouse Neutral Foundation http://www.greenhouseneutral.net and its many friends and allies all around the world on Saturday September 26 2009 will call for the world to BAN THE BAG. Our vision will be that by the turn of the clock at midnight on December 31st 2010 they will be BANNED forever globally.
By visiting the Foundation and signing this petition today you will have taken a simple step to make this happen. Why is this so important?
Some of the ugly facts;
Once brought into existence to tote your purchases, they'll accumulate and persist on our planet for up to 1,000 years.
The U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually. An estimated 12 million barrels of oil is required to make that many plastic bags. That’s more than 1,200 bags per US resident, per year.
Four out of five grocery bags in the US are now plastic. The average family accumulates 60 plastic bags in only four trips to the grocery store.
Australia, a country of only some 22 million or so, consumes about 6.9 billion plastic bags each year, that's 326 per person. According to Australia's Department of Environment, an estimated 49,600,000 annually end up as litter.
Every single piece of plastic ever manufactured is still on the planet. It is in use, intact in landfills, as windblown litter, and also toxically contaminating global river systems and oceans.
There is an estimated 46,000 pieces of plastic in each square mile of ocean. Plastic bags cause over 100,000 sea turtle and other marine animal deaths every year when animals mistake them for food.
There are over 3,300 deaths of children each year in the US alone who die from asphyxiation from plastic bags.
WSJ Target, the second-largest retailer in the U.S., purchases 1.8 billion bags a year. In the U.S. alone $4 billion per year is spent by retailers giving away free plastic bags.
The simple act of saying NO to plastic bags is something every global citizen can do. We have the choice and, the reasons to are clear.
Throughout the ongoing campaign Countries will be petitioned to implement a total ban on the use of plastic bags and confirm a date for their eradication.
Companies who presently support the use of plastic bags will be highlighted for their environmental impact and disregard to the outcome of their actions.
Consumers who support the use of plastic bags will be educated on the outcome of their choice and encouraged to say NO to plastic bags. Each high quality reusable bag used has the potential to eliminate an average of 1,000 plastic bags over its lifetime.
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