QUICK FACTS ON PLASTIC POLLUTION (from greenfeet.

com)
Posted on May 9, 2011 by bagitmovie

Sometimes it’s hard to know how to educate friends and family about our culture’s wasteful plastic habit
without sounding like a quartet of violins or a preacher. How about some useful and informative facts? (We
suggest choosing one or two, to start.)

A plastic milk jug takes 1 million years to decompose.

A plastic cup can take 50 – 80 years to decompose.
Recycled plastic can be used to make things like trash cans, park benches, playground equipment, decks, and
kayaks.
Special fleece-like fabrics used in clothes and blankets can be made out of recycled plastic bottles.
Americans use 2.5 million plastic bottles every HOUR.
Plastic bags and other plastic garbage thrown into the ocean kill as many as 1 million sea creatures every
year.
Recycling plastic saves twice as much energy as burning it in an incinerator.
A United States law, implementing an international agreement called MARPOL Annex V, became effective
on December 31, 1988. It prohibits the disposal of plastics into the marine environment and requires ports to
provide reception facilities for ship-generated plastic waste.
Today, Americans generate 10.5 million tons of plastic waste a year but recycle only 1 or 2 % of it.
An estimated 14 billion pounds of trash, much of it plastic is dumped in the world’s oceans every year.
The worldwide fishing industry dumps an estimated 150,000 tons of plastic into the ocean each year,
including packaging, plastic nets, lines, and buoys.
About 1,200 plastic soft drink and salad dressing containers could carpet the average living room.
Every year we make enough plastic film to shrink-wrap the state of Texas.
Nearly every piece of plastic EVER made still exists today.
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About bagitmovie
Bag It is a documentary film following the world wide use of plastic bags, plastic's impact on the environment and human health.
View all posts by bagitmovie →
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3 Responses to QUICK FACTS ON PLASTIC POLLUTION (from greenfeet.com)

Emi Graziani says:

May 13, 2011 at 6:45 pm

Please keep these facts coming. These staggering numbers help when I am trying to explain things to someone who can’t
comprehend the enormity of the problem.
Reply

megan bentley says:

May 31, 2011 at 5:55 pm

Please keep these facts coming! ENSO has created the first recyclable and Fully Biodegradable plastic additive that is a huge
step in the right direction.
Reply

bobewaefrwzds says:
April 17, 2012 at 3:17 pm

the turtle picture is really really sad:'(

Reply

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