Plastic bags consumed this year:

DID YOU KNOW?

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

• Each year, an estimated 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide. That comes out to over one million per minute. Billions end up as litter each year.

• It is estimated that plastic kills up to 1 million sea birds, 100,000 sea mammals and countless fish each year. Turtles, dolphins and killer whales choke or starve by confusing plastic bags for jellyfish.

• There are approximately 46,000 pieces of plastic floating in each square mile of our oceans.

• Windblown plastic bags are so prevalent in Africa that a cottage industry has sprung up harvesting bags and using them to weave hats, and even bags. According to the BBC, one group harvests 30,000 per month.

• Latest research indicates that UK consumers used 13 billion plastic carrier bags per year.

• Plastic grocery bags consume 40% less energy to produce and generate 80% less solid waste than paper bags. However, plastic bags can take 1,000 years to decompose compared to paper bags which take about a month to decompose. Because neither option is desirable, the United States Environmental Protection Agency recommends reusing bags.