The Truth About Plastic

600 x 1 = 92% ELECTRICAL RESISTANCE OF AMERICANS AGE People with the highest axposure to BPA have an increased rate of heart disease and 6 OR OLDER TEST OPTICAL CLARITY POSITIVE FOR BPA IN A LIFETIME, THE AVERACE AMERICAN WILL diabetes PERSONALLY THROW AWAY HIGH HEAT RESISTANCE 600 TIMES HIS OR PLASTIC BURIED DEEP IN LANDFILLS CAN LEACH HARMFUL CHEMICALS THAT SPREAD INTO GROUNDWATER PLASTIC TAKES UP HER BODY WEIGHT TO 1,000 YEARSTO DEGRADE IN A LANDFILL LIGHTWEIGHT Currently plastic TOUGH Plastic is so resilient that even 10 percent of generated waste MANUFACTURING OF PLASTICS OFTEN CREATES LARGE QUANTITIES OF CHEMICAL POLLUTANTS burying it doap within the earth doesn't keep it from impacting the environment HIGH-PERFORMANCE PLASTIC BURNING Chemical building block that is used primarily to make polycarbonate plastic and opoxy resins PLASTIC CAN ENOUGH PLASTIC IS THROWN AWAY RELEASE Placing plastics in a landfill may simply be storing a problem for the future TOXIC FUMES EACH YEAR TO CIRCLE THE EARTH FOUR TIMES added to plastics can be absorbed by human bodies BISPHENOL A BPA EVERY YEAR WE CREATE ENOUGH PLASTKC FILM TO SHRINK WRAP THE ENTIRE STATE OF TEXAS THE TRUTH ABOUT PLASTIC The chemical building blocks that make platios so versatile are the same components that might harm people and the ewironment AND IT'S IMPACT ON OUR PLANET Public agencies in California alone spend over $300 million on coastal litter EVERY PIECE OF PLASTIC MADE STILL EXISTS TODAY PLASTICS GROW IN VOLUME AT A clean-up per year RATE OF ABOUT 9% EACH YEAR Floating plastic wastoe serves as rmini transportation devices for invasive epecies, disrupting habitats PLASTIC IS THE LARGEST SOURCE OF OCEAN LITTER Our main use of these lightweight. NEXT YEAR, MORE THAN inexpensive plastic materials are as single-use itnms that will go to the garbage dump within a yar, where they'll persist for centuries 300 MILLION TONS OF PLASTIC WILL BE PRODUCED WORLDWIDE THE SECOND MOST ABUNDANT OCEAN POLLUTION IS CIGARETTES THIS YEARWE WILL ADD 14 BILLION OF TRASH EIGHT PERCENT OF WORLD OIL PRODUCTION GOES TO po TO THE OCEAN MANUFACTURING PLASTICS PLASTICS MAKE UP PLASTIC BOTTLES 60-90% OF ALL MARINE DEBRIS. PLASTIC BAGS PLASTIC DEBRIS IS OFTEN INGESTED BY MARINE AMERICANS USE ANIMALS ONLY 1% OF PLASTIC 2,500,000 BAGS ARE RECYCLED WORLDWIDE PLASTIC BOTTLES EVERY HOUR OCEAN DEBRIS WORLDWIDE IN ONE WEEK WE GOTHROUGH KILLS 10 BILLION PLASTIC BAGS IN THE PAST FIVEYEARS, AT LEAST OVERA N COUNTRIES RA DOZE HAVE BANNED OR PUT ATAX ON DISPOSABLE BAGS WORLDWIDE 100,000 MAMMALS EACH YEAR THE LARGEST OPPOSITION TO THE BAN OF PLASTIC BAGS COMES BY USING REUSABLE A plastic bottle of drinking Lter is DRINK CONTAINERS, AN AVERAGE PERSON CAN FROMTHE PETROLEUM AND water contains on average 4 cents wonh of water most PLASTICS CONSUMERS THAT DONTWANT TO CHANGE THEIR HABITS INDUSTRIES AND, ELIMINATE THE NEED FOR 100 DISPOSABLE BOTTLES PER YEAR severe in the East 1 MILLION SEA BIRDS Asian seas EACH YEAR Plastic bags don't biodograde but are at risk for photo degradation, light cxposure dissolving them into toxic polymer particles PLASTIC BAGS MAKE UP OVER 10% OF WASHED-UP DEBRIS RETAILERS INTHE UNITED STATES POLLUTING THE U.S. SPEND $4 BILLION ON PLASTIC BAGS COASTLINE V HOW TO SHRINK YOUR PLASTIC FOOTPRINT VV RECYCLE YOUR PLASTIC I ONE TON OF RECYCLED PLASTIC SAVES 5,774 KWH OF ELECTRICITY 685 GALLONS OF OIL 98 MILLION BTU'S OF ENERGY 30 CUBIC YARDS OF LANDFILL SPACE | 88% | 25% ONLY ABOUT 25% OF THE PLASTIC RECYCLING PLASTIC TAKES 89 LESS ENERGY THAN MAKING PLASTIC FROM RAW MATERIALS. PRODUCED IN THE U.S. IS RECYCLED PLASTIC BAGS VS. REUSABLE BAGS Reusable bags come in all sorts of smart and stylish shapes and prints, making your shopping trips a little less routine and a linie more fun The average person goes through between 350 and 500 plastic hags a year It takes 12 million barrels of oil to produce the amount of plastic bags the US uses per yoar. Over a lifetime, uso of rousable bags by just one person would save over 22,000 plastic bags. Lightweight, plastic bags are the debris most likely to fly away from landfills, settling instead in trees, storm drains, and the ocean. Rousable bags help our sea creatures The cost to recycle plastic bags so outweighs their value that most recycling facilities will not take them and just throw them out. The average reusable bag has the lifespan of over seven hundred disposable plastic bags. Plastic bags don't biodegrade but are at risk for photo degradation, light exposure dissolving them into toxic polymer particles. In New York Cny, one less grocery bag per person would reduce waste by 6 million pounds and save $260,000 in disposal costs per year. Discarded plantic bags have been found as far north as the Arctic Reusable bags save watet Circle and as far south as The Falkland lalande Every 13 bags produced requires the same amount of petroloum to drive a car 1 mile. Reusable bags help air pollution Many stores also accept their bags back, Look for a bag recycling collection bin, usually located at the front of the store Some grocery stores even offer discounts for customers who bring their own bage - now that's incentivel A MANY STORES ACCEPTTHEIR BAGS BACK. LOOK FOR A BAG RECYCLING IN THE PAST FIVE YEARS, OVERA DOZEN COUNTRIES HAVE BANNED OR PUT A TAX ON DISPOSABLE BAGS. COLLECTION BIN, USUALLY LOCATED AT THE FRONT OF THE STORE IRELAND, THE FIRST EUROPEAN COUNTRY TO IMPOSE A TAX ON PLASTIC BAGS, HAS DECREASED PLASTIC SHOPPING BAG CONSUMPTION BY 90%, REDUCING OVERALL PLASTIC BAG USAGE BY 1.08 BILLION, SINCE 2002. 10 SIMPLE STEPS TO STOP USING PLASTIC END THE PAPER OR PLASTIC DEBATE Bring your own rousable grocery bag whenevear you go to the store. GO DIGITAL No need for plastic CDs and jowel cases when you buy your music online. STOP USING BOTTLED WATER In most cases it is no safer or ndaar mam r1000 umen e costs 3 times as much as gasoline than water coming out of the USE A REFILLA For your hand soap and dishwashing liquid, buy your soap or detergent in bulk. Using one large bottle is better than a bunch of LE DISPENSER times as much as tap water. small ones SAY NO TO SINGLE SERVING PACKAGING Not only does it take up a lot of plastic and other materials, lets be honest, one never fills you up! Buy in bulk and share with friends. STOP USING PLASTIC SANDWICH BAGS. Buy a reusable sandwich box instead. BRING YOUR "TO-GO" MUG WITH YOU Its a great way to reduce the number of paper cups and plsstic lide given out at coffee shops. AVOID PLASTICS THAT AREN'T READILY RECYCLABLE If you use a plastic item, try and choose one made out of A1 (PETE) or #2 (HDPE), which are the most commonly recycled plastics. USE SILVERWARE Plastic knives and forks are for chumpa. Keep a set in your locker or at the office. SEEK OUT PRODUCTS OR ITEMS THAT ARE NOT MADE OUT OF PLASTIC http:/www.reusethisbag.com/why.asp http:/protectyourtentralcoast.org/facts php http//en.wikipeda INFOGRAPHIC BROUGHT TO YOU BY httpwww.envino enevs.org/ehs/news/dangers of plastic http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=plastic-not-so-fantastic http:/riseaboveplastics.org/RAP_home_pege .swf http://www.recycling-revolution.comvrecycling-facts.htmi http//students.arch.utah.edu/courses/Arch4011/Recyclng%20Facts1.pdf http://www.cleanair.orgWaste/wasteFacts.html http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1821664,00.htmi http://www.bisphenola.org/about/fag htmita DESIGNED EY JESSICA UTLER ReuseThisBag.com CREATED BY OBIZMEDIA. COM