Last time when I left the Norfa I was really shocked by the amount of plastic
bags behind the bushes. Everywhere you can find places like that and of course
not only in Lithuania.
Every European uses an estimated 200 plastic bags a year on average.
That’s far too much and really terrifying if you know that 92.5% of are
single-use.
We use them about 25 minutes and then it is rubbish.
Only 10 % of bags are recycled and a lot of the others you can find
in our nature.
According to the German
Environmental Aid a total of 750,000 tonnes of disposable plastic bags were produced in the
year 2010 in Europe. That's equivalent to the weight of 625,000 cars. The worst thing
about it: plastic usually takes
several hundred years until it is completely rotted
away, while a bus ticket out of paper for
example, needs only a few weeks. Even a tin can
need according to the International
Maritime Organization, only about one
hundred years to fully decompose.
Horrible! We only use it for a few meters from the store
to the car or even only for some minutes. How often do you buy an apple in a
small bag and eat it immediately after buying?
3 minutes to be used but several hundred years in the
nature.
For example many of those
plastic bags end up in seas and rivers, killing millions of marine animals.
These petroleum based products can contain toxic
additives. In the sea they become life-threatening for animals but also for
humans by entering the food chain.
Plastic bags made up around 40% of all the marine litter
across UK waters and the
North Sea, and in the Bay of Biscay over 90%
of waste items found on the seabed were plastic.
A 2004 study of wildlife in the North
Sea found 96 per cent of dead sea birds had fragments of plastic
in their stomachs.
Chris Davies MEP, environment spokesman for the Liberal
Democrats in Europe said: 'Discarded plastic
bags are killing millions of marine animals each year. It's become a massive
problem across Europe and one we must deal
with together.‘
The European parliament has acted and tabled proposals
to reduce the consumption of lightweight plastic carrier bags by 80% across the
EU by 2019.
This goal should be reached with measures including charges, bans,
awareness-raising campaigns and restrictions on the use of hazardous substances
and oxo-degradables in plastic bags. For this proposal to become EU law, the
Council of Ministers must now approve it. In this regard, 92 % of the
respondents to the new survey from Eurobarometer agree that measures should be
taken to reduce the use of single-use plastic items, such as shopping bags
Fees are probably the best method. For example, Ireland government
pushed a tax of 22 cents per plastic bag. "The taxes were not there to get
more tax revenue, but to direct the behavior of citizens. Since the
introduction of the bag tax much less plastic bags are produced there,"
explains Bongardt. The plastic bag consumption per person decreased from 328
bags per year to the current 20 bags.
By comparison, the EU average, according to a study by
the European Commission is 198 bags per person.
Another idea to sensitize people is the International
bag free day on 3rd July.
This year - The fifth
edition of International plastic bag-free day sees groups from all over the
world organising activities to raise awareness on the environmental impact of
single-use plastic bags and to demand that governments act to stop marine
littering.
I really hope that next year there are more people and
we all think about this important topic. One of my favorite statement I have found
is from Ariadna
Rodrigo from Friends of the Earth Europe.
She said:
“Single-use plastic bags are an example of how we mismanage our resources in
Europe. Rather than keeping materials in our economy for as long as possible,
we are extracting evermore resources for short-lived products that we do not
need. The European Parliament supported actions to eradicate this situation,
now the Council needs to act.”
In my opinion it is sad that we need laws and directives
for such self-evident things. It would be so easy to change.
- Separating the rubbish,
- Avoid rubbish by buying in bigger amount,
- Use glass bottles or use them more than once,
- Take your own bag with you,…
Next time when I go to supermarket I will take my
own bag with me.
What about you?
Watch!
