VILLAIN: Single-Use Plastic Bags

Floating plastic bags appear very similar to sea jellies and are often mistaken for food by marine animals. Many thousands of marine animals die each year from ingestion of or entanglement in plastic debris.

 

Photos: Cynthia Vanderlip

Source: UCSB Dept. of Geography

Pictured to the left is a live Albatross chick; on the right is the remains of an adult Albatross with its gut full of plastic. Notice the wide variety of bottle caps in this one. With smaller animals, more damage is done by smaller pieces. The plastic goes down the gullet quite easily. But since it is not digested, as in the original plan for all life, it gets stuck before exiting the stomach. There it sits to block the entry and digestion of legitimate food. Even the tiniest of pieces can cause blockages.

SOLUTION:  Live Plastic Free

Use reusable bags and eliminate single-use bags. Not only are single-use bags wasteful, but their plastic is made from oil. If Californians cut their plastic bag waste in half, it would save more than 2,000 barrels of oil a day. Choosing a disposable paper bag is not a great solution either. Producing a paper bag uses four times more energy than producing a plastic bag and generates 70 percent more air pollutants and 50 times more water pollutants. Each high quality reusable bag you use has the potential to eliminate an average of 1,000 plastic bags over its lifetime.

SOURCE: Community Environmental Council

 

FUN TIP: Did you know that you can get your own reusable bags at the Museum and Sea Center Stores?  Plus Museum Members get a 10% discount!