|
Students for Responsible Bag Policy |
||||
|
Paper or Plastic? Neither! The choice between paper and plastic is a false one. Single-use retail bags, no matter what they're made of, consume precious natural resources and produce harmful toxins and unnecessary waste.
The only solution is to shift to reusable bags. One reusable bag has the lifetime of 1,000 single-use retail bags. Recycling is Not the Solution Recycling fails to address the root of problem. Though there is pressure to increase recycling programs, they don't address ecological damage, wasteful production, and non-renewable dependency. Unfortunately, neither plastic nor paper bags are recycled at a high rate (1-3 percent for plastic, 10-15 percent for paper). Most communities lack proper recycling infrastructure, and even biodegradable products don't work without sunlight or oxygen. Though recycling seems like a convenient, feel-good option to using plastic and paper bags, there's really no market for recycled plastics. It's simply economically inefficient to recycle plastic and paper bags. It costs up to $4,000 to recycle one ton of plastic bags worth about $32. Ecological Damage and Community Health Average citizens across the country are harmed by air and water pollutants from the retail bag industry. Plastic debris endangers over 250 marine species through ingestion, entanglement, smothering, and leaching toxins. In fact, plastic bags negatively affect: Consumer bags clog and pollute economically important waterways and coasts. Over 17,000 tons of plastic flow through the Anacostia River into the Chesapeake Bay yearly, over half of which is bags. This pollution harms tourism and marine and shellfish industries. Plastic bags make up 43% of the litter in the Los Angeles River.  Plastic pollution in the Los Angeles River. |
| Students for Responsible Bag Policy | switchbags@gmail.com |