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Thursday is a Day Without a Bag, Are You Shopping Green?
Photo by nadi0 via Flickr
An estimated six billion plastic bags are used every year in LA County with the average Californian using 552 of them per year. That's a lot potential harm to the ecosystem, especially when not recycled. The plastic bag industry has made weak arguments to keep the environmentally unfriendly object around, evenslapping lawsuits on cities who propose a ban (desperation?).
So that's why Heal the Bay, the City and County of Los Angeles and other municipalities are sponsoring the 2nd Annual Day Without a Bag this Thursday. 25,000 free reusable bags will be handed out at various locations throughout the county.
"The idea is that we want to make a gift to local residents so they can make a gift to the environment, and get them thinking about their consumption habits as we start a new year," explained Matthew King from Heal the Bay. "These reusable bags save energy and taxpayer dollars. It’s an economic issue as much as an environmental one."
The event is only one day asking people to forego plastic shopping bags for 24 hours. But the real challenge is if you can keep it up and make it quotidian.
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