The world uses anywhere from 500 billion to 1.2 trillion plastic bags a year. Commentary from www.nomorebaggage.org
Plastic shopping bags are a recent invention only and have only been in use since the 1970s; yet plastic bags are the most prominent source of plastic debris found in the ocean today less than 40 years later. Disposable bags first began with the invention of the paper bag back in 1912 by American inventor, Walter Deuber, who sold the disposable paper bags with nifty hands in his Minnesota grocery store.
Between the 1950s and 2000 retailers became accustom to giving away disposable shopping bags for free. This is why many retailers turned to using plastic bags because they are generally cheaper than paper bags. Over the last nine years a global movement has begun to abolish the plastic shopping bags all together.
Many political laws have been passed to outlaw the bags all together or charge a fee to discourage their use. The goal of this site (nonmorebaggage.org) is to raise people awareness about doing away with disposable bags all together and moving toward zero waste by forming a reusable bag habit. Remember we can do without disposable bags, we already have prior to the early and mid-1900s. Here are some entertaining sketches to illustrate this concept of the historical evolution of disposable bags:
Today the world tragically uses anywhere between anywhere from 500 billion to 1.2 trillion plastic bags a year.(epa.gov) (Lancaster.gov.uk)
That averages out somewhere between 290-300 plastic bags used per person per year (Parliament.UK) (londoncouncils.gov.uk); which comes out to over one million bags being used per minute.
Wastefully, we use each plastic shopping bag on average for approximately 12 minutes before disposing. It then lasts in the environment for decades. Some reports estimate that plastic bags can take over 400 years to degrade. (Parliament.NSW.gov.AU) (BBC news) An estimated 17 billion plastic bags are given away annually by United Kingdom supermarkets-enough plastic to cover an area the size of London, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and west Yorkshire combined. Note: this estimate doesn’t state all retraders only supermarkets.
On average we only recycle one plastic bag in every 200 we use. (londoncouncils.gov.uk)
In 1995, high numbers of plastic bags (more than 70 percent of total litter) were reported in dredge samples from the continental shelf along the French and Spanish Atlantic Coast (Galgani et al, 1995). During a survey of floating marine debris conducted in the South East Pacific plastic bags far outnumbered other items at 47.6 percent of all items. (UNEP/GPA).
In the marine environment plastic bag litter is lethal, killing many species – including sea birds, whales, dolphins, seals, sea lions and turtles every year. (Planet Ark) (NSW.GOV.AU).
Plastic bags can be mistaken for food and consumed by a wide range of marine species. Ingestion of litter such as plastic bags can cause physical damage and mechanical blockage of the esophagus and digestive system, resulting in a false sensation of fullness or satiation, as the litter may remain in the stomach. This can lead to internal infections, starvation and death. (MCS) (environment.gov.au) (plasticdebris.org)
Plastic bags have been recorded as a cause of entanglement in marine animals. Entanglement can restrict movement, leading to starvation, drowning or suffocation. (MSC) (UNEP) Once an animals dies from entanglement or plastic ingestion, their bodies decompose and the plastic is released back into the environment where it can kill again. (MCS)(Planet Ark) (NOAA)
Plastic bags, as with all forms of plastic, do not biodegrade. They photodegrade, breaking down into smaller and smaller toxic bits contaminating soil, waterways, oceans and entering the food web when ingested by animals.
