Recycling plastic bags not the answer
I've seen and heard about the plastic bag recycling collections going on at local supermarkets and some of the big box stores lately. It seems like such a great idea, just bring your bags back and they'll take care of them, no need to worry about dragging those reusable bags around.Well, this slideshow from the Pocono Record does a great job reminding us that reusable bags are still the way to go.
- Less than 1% of plastic bags are recycled each year and it costs more to recycle a plastic bag than to make a new one.
- According to San Francisco's Department on the Environment, it costs $4,000 to process and recycle one ton of plastic bags, which can then be sold for $32.
- Plastic bags account for more than 10% of debris washed up on the U.S. coastline, according to the National Marine Debris Monitoring Programming.
See the entire slideshow for a reminder of the havoc on wildlife that plastic bags can wreak. What you can do about it? Answer is simple, use those reusable bags!
Thanks to Earth Friendly Shopping for the link!
_thumbnail.jpg)
In Oregon: A Gym Powered By Exercise
Blankets & Coats Re-Purposed for Pets
Obama Poses with Three Legged Baby
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-18-2008 @ 8:55AM
DuggersCup said...
I don't understand why it must cost more!
I don't know about the USA but here in the UK. When we take our plastic bags back to collection bins at the supermarket, they get taken out and reused at the tills, rather than recycled.
Reply
7-18-2008 @ 1:14PM
Patricia said...
Really? That's great. I've never seen any sort of plastic bag reuse here on the store level. I believe they reprocess them.
8-06-2008 @ 3:32PM
solelongboard said...
Recycling back to the register has got to take more money in labor and plus, what is somebody spilled some chemical something in one and your bagging veggies 2nd time around.
The best "recycle" is to burn them for energy.
7-18-2008 @ 1:10PM
yoshhash said...
"It costs $4,000 to process and recycle 1 ton of plastic bags, which can then be sold for $32"
this is very interesting- can we please get a source on this? I am not being argumentative, in fact I question a lot of our recycling practices. I am writing a thesis on a related topic, and would like to use this.
Reply
7-18-2008 @ 1:14PM
Patricia said...
I took that quote from the slideshow, from the Pocono Record Newspaper.
According to the slideshow, it comes from the San Francisco Department of the Environment. You can see it on the slideshow, slide 3, using the link above.
Hope this helps.
7-18-2008 @ 1:10PM
yoshhash said...
In the last 15 years, I have only used a dozen garbage bags (the standard large black or green kind), and only then, it was for protecting clothes in the closet. I only use shopping bags to take out my garbage in.
Bags in themselves are not inherently irresponsible. If people would at least use shopping bags more than the one time, it would not be such a problem.
Reply