Today on The International Plastic Bag Free Day, Three Rivers is supporting Plastic Bag Free World, a campaign that aims to eliminate the use of single-use plastic bags across the world.
This is part of the broader Break Free From Plastic movement, which brings together an international movement of plastic pollution fighters to build a future free from plastic waste.
Plastic bags are used for an average of just 15 minutes, yet are estimated to take around 500 years to break down.
They not only pollute the environment but directly harm many living organisms, with around 100,000 marine animals killed by plastic bags annually.
People are encouraged to not leave them in parks or open spaces.
The best alternative is a reusable bag, however, these also have a large environmental footprint, so they should be used over 100 times to make up for the production impact, so use a second-hand bag, look for sustainable materials, and reuse your bags for years.
Cllr Phil Williams, Three Rivers District Council lead member for environmental services and sustainability, said: “Plastic bags are cheap to produce, but come with a high environmental cost and are expensive to remove from the environment.
“We need to work together to remove single-use plastics from our day to day lives, and plastic bags are the first step.
“Our future generations will suffer from the pollution caused by plastic bags, both by their production and disposal, without getting the benefits. They may not be able to vote yet, but their future counts.”
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