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GREEN  FACTS
Honu and other marine life mistake
plastic bag for food.
Hundreds of
plastic bags stuck
in the trees on
Pulehu Road on
Maui.
  • When 1 ton of paper bags is reused or recycled, 3 cubic meters of
    landfill space is saved and 13 - 17 trees are spared! In 1997,
    955,000 tons of paper bags were used in the United States.

  • Less than 5 % of US shoppers use canvas, cotton or mesh bags.
    Please change the number by choosing reusable when you shop.   
  • Using eco-friendly reusable shopping bags instead of plastic bags
    is a small, and simple lifestyle change. You wouldn’t forget your
    purse or wallet before going to the grocery store, so just remember
    not to forget your re-usable shopping bags.

  • Each reusable shopping bag  you use has the potential to
    eliminate hundreds, if not thousand, of plastic bags over its
    lifetime.
  • According to The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. goes through 100
    billion plastic shopping bags annually. An estimated 12 million
    barrels of oil is required to make that many plastic bags

  • Plastic bags don’t biodegrade, they photodegrad breaking down into
    smaller and smaller toxic bits contaminating soil and waterways
    and entering the food web when animals accidentally ingest.

  • The average family bring home about 1,000 plastic bags every year.
    Most of these bags end up in the land fill, which it can take up to
    1,000 year for a bag  to decompose.           

  • Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, whales and other marine
    mammals die every year from eating discarded plastic bags
    mistaken for food.
Some bags only claim to be green but are made from
non-woven polypropylene ("NWP"). This textile is
byproduct of oil refining and it is not biodegradable.
You may reuse the NWP several times,
but all bags must someday be thrown out. The NWP
will not biodegrade and never will be compostable back
into the landfill.  
© 2007 Green Bags Hawaii   All  Rights Reserved
Green Bags Hawaii
"NO" to Plastic
eMail: staff@gBagHawaii.com  
Phone: (808) 450-9347