Environmental Buzz

Did you know that . . .

• Single-use high-density polyethylene bags take up to 1000 years to decompose.
• The average American family uses over 1400 of these bags annually.
• Less than 1% of these bags are recycled in the U.S.
• 12 million barrels of oil are used to make the plastic bags that the U.S. uses annually.
• Plastic bags cause over 100,000 sea turtle and other marine animal deaths each year.
• There is an area of plastic trash the size of Texas in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Hawaii known as "The Eastern Garbage Patch".