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SayNoToPlasticBags is here to promote the mainstream adoption of reusable bags. Spread the word. Buy 1, Re-use 1. Pass it on.
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1. Single-use plastic bags are made of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and take up to 1,000 years to degrade, poisoning our soil, rivers, lakes and seas in the process, while choking our wildlife on land and sea.
2. Worldwide, it is estimated that 1 Trillion plastic bags are used each year. That is around 1 million bags per minute.
3. It is estimated that to produce 100 billion plastic shopping bags, around 12 million barrels of oil are consumed. The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) said the average UK citizens uses 167 bags each year, which tots up to around 10 billion plastic bags country-wide.
4. Hundreds of thousands seabirds choke or get tangled in plastic nets and other debris each year.
5. In 2001, the people of Ireland used 316 bags per person, but successfully reduced this consumption by 90% after introducing the PlasTax in 2002.
6. According to the BBC, only 1 in 200 plastic bags in the UK is recycled.
7. The average family accumulates roughly 15 plastic bags for each trip to the supermarket.
8. Each reusable bag used has the potential to eliminate an average of 1,000 plastic bags over its lifetime.
9. According to the Center for Marine Conservation, plastic bags are among the 12 items of debris most commonly found in coastal cleanup operations. Over 60% of coastal litter is plastic. (Source: Friends of the Earth)
10. The majority of plastic bags collected for recycling never get recycled. Most are in fact dumped in the Third World and disposed of under relatively lax environmental regulations.
