Plastic, and plastic bags in particular, are swamping the planet

May 2009. Count the number of plastic bags carried by a supermarket shopper and multiply this with the number of households nationwide. Further multiply this with the number of Sunday shoppers all over the world and you have a vast mountain of plastic. Add to this the contents of these bags, plastic bottles, tins, plastic wrapping etc..... You get the idea.

1 million bags per minute!
Each year, an estimated 500 billion to one trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide - meaning over a million plastic bags are used each minute. Most end up either in landfills or bodies of water where hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, whales and other marine life die yearly from eating discarded plastic bags often mistaken for food.

Such is the need to reduce and eventually stop the use of plastics. The World Wide Fund for Nature supports establishments and individuals in their efforts to fight the massive over-consumption of deadly plastics and to promote the use of natural and sustainable materials to usher in a greener future.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
Known to but a few, a gargantuan island of rubbish floats on the Pacific Ocean. It has been dubbed the Great Pacific Garden Patch. Far from a garden of greens and flowers, it is an island made up of plastic bags, food wrappers, sachets, bottles and assorted floating debris which have drifted from distant land-based sources.

Each year scientists find millions of bottle caps, plastic bags, cigarette butts and assorted plastics within the stomachs of marine animals, particularly turtles. These are often lethal and more deaths are being reported yearly.

450 million people live within 60 kilometres of coral reefs
But sea creatures are not the only ones which derive life from these waters - people's health, food and protection greatly depend on them. Over 450 million people worldwide live within 60 kilometres of coral reefs and derive food and income from the sea. As an archipelagic country, 40 million Filipinos depend on seafood as a primary source of protein.

Plastic bags become more toxic
Typically made from polyethylene, which is derived from natural gas and petroleum, plastic bags don't biodegrade - they photo-degrade and break down into smaller and more toxic particles on a molecular level to contaminate both water and soil. The danger is real and alarming: in a planet where everything is connected in very fundamental ways, these chemicals enter the food system to eventually poison the human body.

One less Plastic Bag
Whether from supermarkets or street stalls - plastic bottles, shampoo sachets, coffee cups, plastic bags and other items of convenience have short usage spans. It begins in a factory and ends in land fill or in bodies of water where food and livelihood are derived. Make no mistake: plastics are lethal to the environment.

So what can be done? WWF believes that reducing the use of plastics is something everyone should do. Bring a reusable shopping bag at all times and keep it neatly tucked within your bag. Be more aware as a consumer and demand that corporations provide clients with alternatives such as biodegradable paper bags. In the end, it becomes a matter of choice.

We will be consuming two earths by 2030
The world's global footprint now exceeds the Earth's capacity to regenerate by 30%. At this rate, we will need the equivalent of two planets to maintain our current lifestyles by mid-2030. Making reusable and sustainable items a way of life is a very positive step towards a planet-friendly existence.

Coastal rubbish in the philippines. Credit (Jürgen Freund/WWF-Canon)