Plastic Bag Wasteland

Plastics are a part of our everyday life and the thought of living without them is almost impossible to imagine. That being said, the impact of plastics on the environment, across their entire lifecycle, is significant. From the fossil fuels that are used to create the foundational materials to the endless presence of plastic in waste streams around the globe, the harm that plastics do to various ecosystems in nearly immeasurable. Less than 6% of plastic waste is actually recycled. This rate is actually on the decline over time. The other 94% ends up in landfills, is burned in incinerators, or finds its way into the environments of oceans, waterways, and landscapes.  40% of this plastic waste stream is considered “single use” items such as bags, straws, and containers. According to research presented by Beyond Plastics, roughly half of the global annual plastic production ends up as single use products. The United States has the largest per capita amount of plastic waste. According to Environmental Protection Agency statistics, per capita  plastic waste went from 60 pounds per year in 1980 to 218 pounds in 2018—a 263% total increase. While the entire realm of plastic and its disposal is at issue, for this project, I honed in on the personal impact one can have by adjusting behavior and attitudes towards just one piece of the plastic puzzle: plastic bags.