El efecto de las bolsas de plástico en nuestro mundo

1. The sad story of the harmless disposable bags that the baggers at the supermarket so freely “gift” us

2. Information released by the Environmental Protection Agency of the United States reveals that every year approximately, between 500 billion and one trillion plastic bags are consumed around the world. ( National Geographic 2nd of September, 2003)

3. Less than 1% of the bags are recycled. It is more expensive to recycle a plastic bag than to produce a new one. - Journal of the Christian Science Monitor

4. “ There exists a rough economy behind the recycling of the plastic bags . To process and recycle a ton of plastic bags costs $4,000: the same quantity is sold in the market from prime materials at $32. - Jared Blumenfeld (Director Of the Departament of the Environment in San Francisco)

5. So then… Where do the bags go?

6. A study in 1975 demonstrated that the transoceanic embarkations threw as a group 8 million pounds of plastic into the sea each year. The reason for which the landfills of the world were not inundated with plastic was because the majority of it ended up in the ocean. National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A.

7. The bags are blown by the wind…

8. … towards different places on our planet

9. … and towards our seas, lakes and rivers.

10. The bags find their way to the sea in the drainages and the pipes - CNN.com/tecnhology 16th of November, 2007

11. They have encountered plastic bags floating north of the Arctic Circle near Spitzbergen and even further south, in the Falkland Islands. - Encuesta Antártica Británica

12. The plastic bags represent more than 10% of the debris that arrives to the shores of the coasts of the United States. - Monitoring Program of the National Coastal Debris

13. The plastic bags photodecompose: with the passing of time they decompose into smaller and more toxic petro-polymers - CNN.com/tecnhology 16 de noviembre , 2007

14. that in the end contaminate the ground and waterways - CNN.com/tecnhology 16 de noviembre, 2007

15. As a consequence, microscopic particle can begin to form a part of the food chain - CNN.com/tecnhology 16th of November, 2007

16. The effect on wild life could be catastrophic - WWF Report 2005

17. Birds are trapped without hope - WWF Report 2005

19. Close to 200 different species of marine life, including whales, dolphins, seals and turtles die due to plastic bags - WWF Report 2005

20. They die after ingesting the plastic bags that they confuse with food - WWF Report 2005

21. So then… What can we do?

22. If we use cloth bags, we can save 6 bags per week

23. That is to say, 24 bags per month

24. Or, 288 bags per year

25. Or, 22,176 bags during half a lifetime

26. If only 1 out of every 5 people on our planet did this, we would save 1.330.560.000.000 bags during our lives

27. Bangladesh prohibited the plastic bags - MSNBC.com 8 de marzo, 2007

28. China prohibited free plastic bags - CNN.com/asia 9th of January, 2008

30. In 2005, Rwanda prohibited plastic bags - Associated Press

31. Israel, Canada, Western India, Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Taiwan and Singapore also have prohibited or are in the process of prohibiting plastic bags - PlanetSave.com 16 th of February, 2008

32. On the 27 th of March of 2007, San Francisco turned into the first city in the U.S.A. to prohibit plastic bags - NPR.org (National Public Radio)

33. Oakland and Boston are considering the prohibition - The Boston Globe 20 th of May, 2007

34. The plastic bags are made of polyethylene: a thermo-plastic that is obtained from petroleum - CNN.com/tecnhology 16 th of November, 2007

35. Reducing the use of plastic bags will diminish the consumption of petroleum, non-renewable resources and all the hassles it creates...

36. China will save 37 million barrels of petroleum every year thanks to the prohibition of free plastic bags - CNN.com/asia 9 th of January, 2008

37. It's possible that... There are people that ignore all this… … but not you… Now you know!!!

38. It's nothing more than a question of wanting to make a change; and soon it will become a habit… Will you join us? ....or not? Jolubate te invita. Si no lo haces, no te va a pasar nada. Si lo haces, TU te sentiras mejor.