PLASTIC! Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic compounds that are malleable to create different shapes without cracking, because the materials needed to create plastic do not exist in nature and there are no naturally occurring organisms that can break them down effectively products made with this material can take several years to decompose.
It can take up to 1,000 years for plastic to decompose in landfills. For example reusable bags are made with a lot of oil and natural gas (non-renewable natural resources) which is not recyclable this type of bag is utilized daily by many of us worldwide and can take anywhere from 10 to 1,000 years to decompose. Reusing these bags saves on our non-renewable natural resources, studies show that plastic bottles can take up to 450 years or more.
Only 23% of plastic is recycled in the United States annually and approximately 8 million pieces of plastic pollution finds their way into our oceans everyday effecting not only our environment, animals but ourselves as well.
We can do our part by checking with the triple R check list: Can I reduce the use of this material and how? Is this item reusable? Can I recycle this item?
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