Wednesday, April 6, 2011

It’s time to ban plastic bags


Plastic bags, friend or foe?

As Earth Day is quickly approaching, we find it an appropriate time to initiate discussion about how our valley can help protect our precious earth. As some of us may know, Earth Day began in April 1970.

Not four years after this day was established to protect our planet and its vital resources, we were introduced to a new convenient friend that was said to make our daily lives much easier. Without taking into consideration the many harmful effects that our new friend would have, we happily embraced what is known as the plastic bag. While change, to some, is difficult to incorporate, we as members of the Wood River High School Environmental Club, better known as W.A.T.E.R., find it imperative. It is important to know why we are so passionate about banning the use of plastic bags here in our valley.

( Retailers in the United States spend a total of $4 billion a year on plastic bags.

( 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are used worldwide every year.

( In order to produce the massive amounts of plastic bags, the U.S. uses 12 million barrels of oil per year.

( With a 6-1 ratio of plastic to zooplankton in oceans, the majority of birds and sea animals find themselves eating plastic instead of food.

( Only 1 to 2 percent of plastic bags in the United States end up getting recycled.

Instead of waiting for our elected officials to propose a ban on plastic bags, we have begun the process and will be presenting our proposal/ordinance on Monday, April 11, at 5:30 p.m. at Hailey City Hall. We encourage everyone with the slightest bit of interest to join us and show your support—it would be greatly appreciated.

Lex Shapiro

Jake Vegwert

Erika Greenberg

Wood River High School

W.A.T.E.R. (Environmental Club)




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