Of course everyone knows that plastic bags maybe aren’t the most “eco-friendly” resort, but do you know just how negatively they truly affect the environment? The effect that the plastic bags have on the environment is not only affecting us, but extremely harming and affecting the animals and wildlife that share this beautiful planet with us.

Statistics show that of the billions of plastic bags produced each year, less than 1% are recycled. With the other remaining 99% of plastic bags, billions and billions of them end up in the throats of wildlife, thinking that the “object flying in the wind” is food for them to eat.

World Watch Institute found that one billion birds’ and mammals’ lives are ended due to the ingesting of plastic.

Innocent animals are constantly being harmed due to the amount of plastic bags being “thrown away,” instead of being recycled. Plastic bags are non-biodegradable; therefore, even though you believe you threw the bag out, the bag never actually goes away. All the trash has to end up somewhere. Right? That somewhere is in lakes, oceans, beaches, trees, streets, forests, and most importantly, landfills.

All of the non-biodegradable products that you believe you are safely throwing away in your trash bins end up in landfills, where the trash sits there for years upon years as it gets buried on top of more trash and more trash gets buried upon it, “safely.” Landfills are basically permanent waste baskets built into the earth.

With this said, it is important that we take control of the situation and act upon it. It is up to us to help make the planet a healthier and safer environment to live in. We are capable of it, but the question is, how?

There are many more methods to reducing the amount of plastic bags being polluted than one may know of.

1. Bring the plastic bags back to your local grocery store for them to be reused.
2. You can reuse them when you go back to the grocery store.
3. Reuse your plastic bags in the produce section at the grocery store to put the produce in, instead of those clear little ones they have for you to use.
4. They can be used to keep your produce in the fridge safe.
5. Collect the plastic bags at your house and bring them to a recycling drop-off center or location.
6. Reuse the plastic bags as trash bags for your home waste baskets.
7. Use the bags to keep fragile Christmas ornaments or plates protected in.
8. Save the bags to use for storage purposes (books, toys, stuffed animals, etc.).
9. Reuse them on vacations to separate your dirty laundry from your clean clothes.
10. The plastic bags can be placed around your feet on the inside of your shoes when it is snowy or rainy outside. Therefore, your feet are protected by the water and they do not end up soaked and cold in your soggy shoes. (This method is very useful for people who play sports or run in all conditioned weather).

In addition to all of the ways you can recycle and reuse your old plastic bags, try to buy or use reusable cloth bags at the grocery store instead of plastic bags. Therefore, you are reducing the amount of plastic bags being used, and recycling and reusing the cloth bag instead.

Every small action we take can and will have a ripple effect on the planet.

This is our planet, this is our responsibility. Go Green or Go Home.