The average American uses 325 single-use plastic checkout bags/year.
They are used an average of 20 minutes, then discarded.
Their recycling rates are low, estimated at 1 - 7%.
2) Harm and kill animals: Plastic bags kill animals by suffocation, choking, intestinal blockage, or entanglement.
3) Plastic bags are mistakenly disposed in single-stream recycling where they:
Clog the sorting mechanism of recycling machinery
Decrease throughput
Cause serious risk exposure to employees who clear tangled bags from machinery with utility knives.
Contaminate glass, metal & paper end-products.
4) They pollute our environment: Plastic bags are easily blown by the wind to woods and waterways contributing to litter, and clogging storm drains.
5) Plastic Bags Contribute to Global Climate Change: In the Town of Sharon, approximately 6 million plastic check-out bags are used each year, with a carbon footprint equivalent to burning 200 thousand gallons of gasoline.
6) Plastic Bag Restrictions Make Us More Mindful: They serve as a daily reminder that our everyday choices as consumers affect the planet. They help us live more sustainably.