{"id":16271,"date":"2022-12-06T16:42:44","date_gmt":"2022-12-06T21:42:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/?page_id=16271"},"modified":"2024-04-04T16:42:09","modified_gmt":"2024-04-04T20:42:09","slug":"plastic-waste-reduction-team-problem-with-plastic-bags-draft","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/plastic-waste-reduction-team-problem-with-plastic-bags-draft\/","title":{"rendered":"The Problem with Plastic Bags"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3 class=\"gnc-project-subheader\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/turtle-plastic_wiki_Commons.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-16279 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/turtle-plastic_wiki_Commons.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"290\" height=\"174\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/turtle-plastic_wiki_Commons.jpg 290w, https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/turtle-plastic_wiki_Commons-150x90.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 290px) 100vw, 290px\" \/><\/a><\/h3>\n<p>Single-use plastic shopping bags are\u00a0<em><strong>everywhere<\/strong><\/em>, with an estimated one to five trillion consumed around the world every year.\u00a0 Its popularity is attributed to its versatility.\u00a0 The bag is strong, waterproof, and lightweight. However, the incredible usage combined with the lack of recycling, with estimates as low as 1%, has led to significant pollution. Plastic debris and plastic bags are harming Earth\u2019s natural systems, including the ocean and marine life.\u00a0 Researchers have found plastic rubbish and particles in all major ocean regions.\u00a0 Fish and turtles mistake plastic litter and bags as food, and plastic bags spoil marine ecosystems.<\/p>\n<p>Plastic isn\u2019t biodegradable; instead, it breaks down into smaller plastic particles called microplastics.\u00a0 Microplastics pollute the air, water and even our food.\u00a0 They have been found everywhere on the planet, including in fresh snowflakes in the Antarctic, and even in human placentas.\u00a0 Microplastics have been shown to cause damage to human cells.\u00a0 More research needs to be conducted to determine the overall health concerns caused by microplastics.<\/p>\n<p>Closer to home, plastic bags accidentally discarded with bottles and cans at the Needham Transfer Station (RTS) create problems for the recycling process. Machines become clogged by the bags, which can force materials bound for recycling to be discarded.\u00a0 There is the added cost of time and money when machines need to be repaired.\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=H5WwFYbAnjk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Watch<\/a> the Plastic Waste Reduction Team&#8217;s PSA about this issue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Single-use plastic shopping bags are\u00a0everywhere, with an estimated one to five trillion consumed around the world every year.\u00a0 They harm wildlife, pollutes our land and waterways, and cause problems at recycling facilities. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":16279,"parent":0,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[342],"class_list":["post-16271","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-plastic-waste-reduction"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}