Bee-Eazy Reusable Bag Buzz

Bags Bee Gone proudly donates 1% of revenue to the environment

Each of us makes choices on a daily basis. Our choices may be simple, they may be significant, they may keep us up at night, and they often affect others. Can you recall the feeling of making a choice, taking action, or getting involved for something so righteous and inspiring that you could barely contain yourself?

In May 2010, Bags Bee Gone decided to become a member with an amazing organization called 1% For The Planet, and our expectations for the outcomes of this one choice have got us all fired up.

Founded in 2002, 1% For the Planet promotes giving from the business community to environmental organizations that are working toward preservation and restoration of our natural environment. Corporate membership with 1% For the Planet means a company pledges to donate 1% of gross annual sales to non-profit organizations with a focus on environmental causes and a successful track record. Over 1,000 businesses world-wide have become members with 1% For The Planet over the past six years, forming a veritable coalition of companies rooted in the fertile common grounds of financial commitment to creating a healthy planet.

We are tremendously excited to join with 1% For The Planet in support of efforts by non-profit organizations to protect and promote the wellness of this one great Earth. Membership with 1% For The Planet is one aspect of Bags Bee Gone's overall commitment to doing the right thing; we work very hard everyday to create the finest processes, products, and services so our customers can enjoy what they deserve: peace of mind. There are no greater gifts we can share with our children than clean air, clean water, richness in plant and animal species worldwide, and the ethic of stewardship for our environment. These are the outcomes we seek to support through our 1% For The Planet partnerships.

 

Environmental Impact

·  Hundreds of thousands of marine and land mammals die every year from eating discarded plastic bags mistaken for food. Since the plastic never goes away this problem continues when they die and the plastic particles are ingested by other animals.

 

·  Globally, over 1 million and 100 thousand marine mammals and turtles die every year from entanglement or ingestion of plastic. (LAIST. 1997)

 

·  Plastic bags are among the 12 items of debris most often found in coastal cleanups, according to the nonprofit Center for Marine Conservation. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration studies show they often wrap around living corals quickly "suffocating" and killing them. The ocean is especially susceptible to plastic pollution because it takes longer for the sun to break apart plastic in the ocean than on land due to the oceans’ cooling capacity (Algalita Marine Research Foundation)

 

·  The North Pacific Gyre: This vast expanse of ocean debris is held in place by swirling underwater currents. It stretches from about 500 nautical miles. The collection of plastic and liter is growing at an alarming rate. As recently as 2008 it's estimated to be twice the size of the continental United States.

 

·  Worldwide animal pollinators such as the honey bee are disappearing at an alarming rate due to Colony Collapse Disorder. CCD is a phenomenon in which worker bees from a beehive or Western honey bee colony abruptly disappear. It is believed that the bee's are losing their sense of direction to return to their hive. The term Colony Collapse Disorder was first applied to a drastic rise in the number of disappearances of Western honey bee colonies in North America and Europe in late 2006. The cause or causes of the syndrome are not yet fully understood, but it is believed to be attributed to environmental influences such as pesticide use, global warming, disease or malnutrition.

Our Landfills & Recycling

·  On average we use each plastic bag for only 12 minutes before disposing of it, contributing to global warming, depleting oil supplies, and driving up costs of home heating oil and gasoline. (United Nations Environmental Programme)

·  4 billion plastic bags end up as litter each year. Tied end to end that’s enough to circle the earth 63 times.

 

·  It takes up to 1000 years or longer for a plastic bag to degrade into smaller bits of plastic which can pose toxic threats to marine life and contaminate the food web.

 

·  Cities like San Francisco waste millions of tax dollars disposing plastic bags and have begin charging up to 17 cents per bag in disposal costs.

 

·  Paper bags take up more space in landfills, and do not degrade or break down at a substantially faster rate than plastic

 

·  Recycling rates of either type of disposable bag are extremely low, with only 10 to 15% of paper bags and 1 to 3% of plastic bags being recycled, according to the Wall Street Journal. In fact, it actually costs recycling companies around $4,000 to process and recycle 130,000 plastic

bags.

 

·  Recycling single-use plastic bags is just not economical. The quality of plastic used in these bags is poor and the inks used make it a difficult and tedious process.

 

·  Many bags collected never get recycled and are shipped to Third world countries where they are cheaply incinerated under more lax environmental laws.

Global Warming and Natural Resources

·  The World consumes between 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags each year. The United States consumes 380 billion of that number. Production of these bags uses toxic chemicals that pollute during manufacturing, and requires use of non-renewable resources such as petroleum and natural gas.

·  The energy needed to manufacture and transport disposable bags eats up more resources and creates global warming emissions in addition to increasing the cost to the consumer.

·  If every family ended their use of plastic bags, it would eliminate 12 billion pounds of greenhouse gasses. The same as taking 1 million cars off the road

·  Only about 700 paper bags can be made from one 15-year-old tree. A supermarket could use that in about an hour.

·  Paper bags generate 70% more air and 50 times more water pollutants than plastic bags. Paper is recycled about 20% of the time, takes up more space in landfills than plastic, and does not bio-degrade due to lack of oxygen. Trees are also needed to turn carbon dioxide into oxygen, and fewer trees over the past decades have meant more greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. More gases, more global warming

·  Natural Fiber bags made from cotton or hemp are quite expensive and in jeopardy due to the problems with the bee population CCD. These materials are not as durable and may require frequent washing to remove odor or dirt.

·  The Bee-Eazy bag is made of durable rip-stop nylon, and is designed to replace hundreds if not thousands of bags over it's lifetime. Every bag helps to minimize disposal costs, save our animals, and reduce global warming gasses. One small change can make a big difference.

 

Video Clip: China Bans Free Plastic Bags

CNN, 06.01.08

China recently fulfilled its January pledge to ban free plastic bags. CNN gives us a glimpse into both the new system of charging for disposable plastic bags and the depressing effects of the culprits being free and plentiful for dozens of years.

Our Take: We hope other countries will follow China’s lead. Charging for plastic bags will help to change consumer habits over time – Ireland has the proof after their hugely successful Plastax produced a 90% drop in consumption. What do you think?

Click here to watch the video: China bans free plastic bags