Source: www.messageinthewaves.com 


About four-fifths of marine trash comes from land, swept by wind or washed by rain off highways and city streets, down streams and rivers, and out to sea. Nearly 90% of floating marine litter is plastic.

- In June 2006 United Nations Environmental Program report estimated that there are an average of 46,000 pieces of plastic debris floating on or near the surface of every square mile of ocean.

Of the 500,000 Laysan albatross chicks born on Midway Atoll (Northern Hawaiian Island Chain) each year, about 200,000 die, mostly from dehydration or starvation. A two-year study funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency showed that chicks that died from those causes had twice as much plastic in their stomachs as those that died for other reasons. The report, "Plastic Debris in the World's Oceans", by international environmental group Greenpeace, said at least 267 marine species are known to have suffered from entanglement or ingestion of marine debris. An estimated 1 million seabirds choke or get tangled in plastic nets or other debris every year.


Plastic Bags

The world uses over 1.2 trillion plastic bags a year. That averages about 300 bags for each adult on the planet. That comes out to over one million bags being used per minute.

On average we use each plastic bag for approximately 12 minutes before disposing. It then lasts in the environment for decades.

Not all litter is deliberate. 47% of wind borne litter escaping from landfills is plastic. Much of this is plastic bags. In the marine environment plastic bag litter is lethal, killing at least 100,000 birds, whales, seals and turtles every year. After an animal is killed by plastic bags, its body decomposes and the plastic is released back into the environment where it can kill again.

If you think there is no point in developed nations stopping the use of disposable plastic bags because the world’s developing nations will never follow…check out the following list.

Countries and States that have banned or taken action to discourage the use of plastic bags include:

Australia, China, Bangladesh, Ireland, Italy, Taiwan, Mumbai (formerly Bombay), Scotland, France, West Bengal, Zanzibar, Tanzania, Switzerland, Rwanda, Denmark, Germany, South Africa, California, Somalia, Botswana, and the Philippines.

Plastic bags, as with all forms of plastic, do not biodegrade. They photodegrade, breaking down into smaller and smaller toxic bits contaminating soil, waterways, oceans and entering the food web when ingested by animals.


For information on the Australian plastic bag campaign see:
- Planet Ark
- The Global Marine Litter Information Gateway
For a comprehensive collection of articles and reports concerning the harmful effects (health and environmental) of plastic as well as advice on what you can do.

And for a detailed film about the plastic problem:

Plastic Planet: The Curse of the Carrier Bag



A Bryde's whale died on a beach in Cairns, Australia after ingesting 6 square metres of plastic - including plastic bags. Such obstructions in animals can cause severe pain, distress and death.

Take care,

Sandra Wijnveldt