Plastic Bag Free Day on Monday 3rd of July has been established as an international awareness day due to our unsustainable take, use and dispose lifestyle. Did you know that on average, plastic bags are used for just 25 minutes?
Single-use plastic bags threaten our environment and are very expensive to manage, once disposed of. Not only can plastic bags directly harm living organisms through entrapment and suffocation but also indirectly through bioaccumulation. This is when pulverised plastic waste is accumulated in our food chain. Marine organisms are increasingly impacted by plastic waste as 80% of marine litter is plastic.
Due to their negative environmental impact plastic bags need to be managed, requiring a lot of resources and money. It takes between 100 to 500 years for a plastic bag to disintegrate (depending on the type of plastic). Globally, the most common solution to manage plastic waste is incineration or landfill, therefore we should stop using plastic bags.
* BAD FOR THE PLANET: They take 100’s of years to degrade and they not only pollute the environment but directly harm many living organisms
* BADLY DESIGNED: It doesn’t make sense to produce something that lasts 100’s of years when it is going to be used for a few minutes
* EXPENSIVE: Producers don’t take responsibility for the impact of their product – plastic bags are cheap to produce but very expensive to clean from the environment
* UNFAIR: Future generations will suffer from the pollution caused by plastic bags
* GET INTO THE FOOD CHAIN: Pulverised plastic waste in the sea gets into the food chain
As a hospitality business there are lots of ways for you to get involved. The online campaign kit is free for you to download on Plastic Bag Free Day website. Plastic Bag Free Day website is a great way to tell your plastic bag story and map your action/event.
