From the EAC: Not So Fun Facts About Single- Use Plastics
Americans use an estimated 365 single-use plastic bags per person per year. That translates to more than six million bags used by Whitpain residents alone!
Less than 2 percent of these are effectively recycled. Most end up incinerated, in landfills, or littering roads, trails and streams.
Single-use plastic bags do not decompose, but break down into microplastics.
Microplastics have been found in all of our local waterways.
Because microplastics are in our watersheds, research suggests we consume a credit card’s worth (5 grams) of microplastics every week.
What can be done? Read next week’s Wire post and be inspired to see what neighboring communities are doing to tackle their single use plastics issue.
Contact the Environmental Advisory Council at WhitpainEAC@gmail.com.