Bag It: Is Your Life Too Plastic?

Presented by The Suncoast Sierra Club

Suncoast Sierra Club presents the award-winning movie "Bag It" at 7PM on Thursday, March 15th. Did you know 8.4 pounds  of solid waste is generated per person per day in Florida! We each throw away the equivalent weight of our own human head every day. We hope to see you there - bring a plastic bag or bottle carrying friend with you!

About "Bag It"

Americans use 60,000 plastic bags every five minutes; single-use disposable bags we mindlessly throw away. But where is "away?" Where do bags and other plastics end up, and at what cost to our environment, marine life and human health? 
Bag It follows "everyman" Jeb Berrier as he navigates our plastic world. Jeb is not a radical environmentalist, but an average American who decides to take a closer look at our cultural love affair with plastics. Jeb’s journey starts with simple questions: Are plastic bags really necessary? What are plastic bags made from? What happens to plastic bags after they are discarded? What he learns quickly grows far beyond plastic bags.

What he discovers is shocking:

• The average American uses 500 PLASTIC BAGS EACH YEAR for an average of 12 minutes before they are discarded.  
• TWO MILLION PLASTIC BOTTLES are consumed in the US every FIVE MINUTES - less than 25% are recycled.
• The average American contributes 800 POUNDS of packaging waste to landfills per year.
• 14 MILLION POUNDS of trash end up in the OCEAN each year.
• The floating "island" of plastic and other debris swirling around in the North Pacific Gyre is more than TWICE the size of TEXAS.
• Plastic bags are made of fossil fuels such as petroleum and natural gas, which are NON-RENEWABLE resources.
• It is estimated 100,000 MARINE MAMMALS AND SEA BIRDS DIE each year from becoming entangled in or ingesting plastic debris.
• Ireland REDUCED its plastic bag use by 90% after instituting a fee on single-use disposable plastic bags.
• China banned "ultra thin" plastic bags in 2008.  They REDUCED their use by 40 BILLION bags in the first year.

Watch the “bag it” movie trailer here:  http://www.bagitmovie.com/trailer.html

 

About the Sierra Club

Since 1892, the Sierra Club has been working to protect communities, wild places, and the planet itself. We are the largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States.For information on how to join please visit:  www.sierraclub.org/membership  For information and happenings here in Pinellas county visit:  florida.sierraclub.org/suncoast/