THE PLASTIC PLAGUE -some facts....
About four-fifths of marine trash comes from land, swept by wind or washed
by rain off highways and city streets, down streams and rivers, and out
to sea. Nearly 90% of floating marine litter is plastic. 
- In June 2006 United Nations Environmental Program report estimated that there are an average of 46,000 pieces of plastic debris floating on or near the surface of every square mile of ocean.
Of the 500,000 Laysan albatross chicks born on Midway Atoll (Northern Hawaiian
Island Chain) each year, about 200,000 die, mostly from dehydration or starvation.
A two-year study funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency showed
that chicks that died from those causes had twice as much plastic in their
stomachs as those that died for other reasons. The report, "Plastic Debris
in the World's Oceans," by international environmental group Greenpeace,
said at least 267 marine species are known to have suffered from entanglement
or ingestion of marine debris. An estimated 1 million seabirds choke or
get tangled in plastic nets or other debris every year.
Plastic Bags
The world uses over 1.2 trillion plastic bags a year. That averages about
300 bags for each adult on the planet. That comes out to over one million
bags being used per minute.
On
average we use each plastic bag for approximately 12 minutes before disposing.
It then lasts in the environment for decades.
Not all litter is deliberate. 47% of wind borne litter escaping from landfills
is plastic. Much of this is plastic bags. In the marine environment plastic
bag litter is lethal, killing at least 100,000 birds, whales, seals and
turtles every year. After an animal is killed by plastic bags, its body
decomposes and the plastic is released back into the environment where it
can kill again.
A Bryde's whale died on a beach in Cairns, Australia after ingesting 6 square
metres of plastic - including plastic bags. Such obstructions in animals
can cause severe pain, distress and death.
If you think there is no point in developed nations stopping the use of
disposable plastic bags because the world’s developing nations will never
follow…check out the following list.
Countries and States that have banned or taken action to discourage
the use of plastic bags include:
Australia, Bangladesh, Ireland, Italy, Taiwan, Mumbai (formerly Bombay), Scotland, France, West
Bengal, Zanzibar, Tanzania, Switzerland, Rwanda, Denmark, Germany, South
Africa, California, Somalia, Botswana, and the Philippines. 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.
For information on the Australian plastic bag campaign see
Planet
Ark
The Global Marine Litter Information Gateway
For a comprehensive collection of articles and reports concerning the harmful
effects (health and environmental) of plastic as well as advice on what
you can do.
And for a detailed film about the plastic
problem
