Bring Your Own Bag!
BayROC (Bay Area Recycling Outreach Coalition) is a coalition of Bay Area city and county agencies, waste haulers and private companies working to reduce waste in the Bay Area by promoting environmental awareness campaigns. Their present effort is aiming to promote the use of reusable bags: Bring Your Own Bag.
Why bring your own bag?
- Plastic bags litter our environment and are a threat to marine life
- The production of both paper and plastic bags uses precious natural resources and is a source of air and water pollution
- Reusable bags are convenient, sturdy and fashionable
According to the San Francisco Chronicle:
- 1.37 million plastic bags were picked up by volunteers during the Ocean Conservancy's 2008 International Coastal Cleanup Day, second only in number to cigarette butts.
- Californians use approximately 19 billion plastic bags and 5 billion paper bags annually.
- Bay Area residents use 3.8 billion plastic bags every year. Each year about 1 million end up in the bay.
Tips to remember your bag:
- keep a few compact bags in your purse, backpack or briefcase
- tape a reminder to your steering wheel or dashboard to grab them from the trunk
- keep bags on your doorknob
- add "remember reusable bags" to your shopping list
- keep bags in the car and at the office
For more information visit www.Igotmybag.org