Seattle has recently banned the use of plastic straws and utensils. Why? Because they are one of the main causes of ocean pollution. This is a great step to limiting all plastic from usage! Are you totally opposed? Have no fear. The city will instead replace the plastic utensils with reusable or compostable ones.
Other cities, such as New York and San Francisco, are considering banning plastic straws as well. Thank you Seattle for leading the way!
Plastic is made from dirty petroleum (yes, the same petroleum we use to fuel our cars). Imagine every container harvesting chemicals from oil and it then seeping into what ever it contains. Gross! Ever heard of BPA?
Here are a few facts about plastics;
- Plastic is horrible on the environment due to the extraction process which requires the damaging practice of harvesting oil (offshore drilling, oil wells, etc).
- 50% of the plastic we use is sent to the landfills after being used only one time.
- Most plastic is not recycled after usage.
- Plastic takes over 500-1,000 years to biodegrade.
- Enough plastic is thrown away each year to circle the earth four times.
- The average American throws away approximately 185 pounds of plastic per year.
- Americans alone throw away 35 billion plastic water bottles every year
With that said, kudos to you Seattle. We are proud of you!
ECO BAE 