International Plastic Bag Free Day

Three Rivers is supporting a Plastic Bag Free World, The International Plastic Bag Free Day, Friday 3 July which aims to eliminate the use of single-use plastic bags across the world.

This is a great opportunity to spread the word that a plastic bag free world is possible and that sound environmental alternatives to single-use plastic bags are available.

This campaign is part of the broader  Break Free From Plastic movement , which brings together an international movement of plastic pollution fighters to build a future free from plastic waste.

Plastic bags are used for an average of just 15 minutes, yet are estimated to take around 500 years to break down. They not only pollute the environment but directly harm many living organisms, with around 100,000 marine animals  killed by plastic bags annually. So please don’t leave them in parks or open spaces or anywhere other than your refuse bin.

The best alternative is a reusable bag, however, these also have a large environmental footprint, so they should be used over 100 times to make up for the production impact, so use a second-hand bag, look for sustainable materials, and reuse your bags for years! Plastic bags should be disposed of in your refuse bin, or used to wrap your food waste, but let’s keep our recycling and garden waste plastic bag free!

Cllr Phil Williams, Lead Member for Environmental Services and Sustainability, said: “Plastic bags are cheap to produce, but come with a high environmental cost and are expensive to remove from the environment. They are an eyesore and can destroy wildlife and plant life both locally and globally. We need to work together to remove single-use plastics from our day to day lives, and plastic bags are the first step.

“Our future generations will suffer from the pollution caused by plastic bags, both by their production and disposal, without getting the benefits. They may not be able to vote yet, but their future counts.”