OAKLAND, CA, February 2011: Each year, it is estimated that 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year. That comes out to over one million per minute! It is also estimated that one plastic bag can take up to 1,000 years to decompose. That means that if King John of England was snacking on a baggie full of jelly beans at the signing of the Magna Carta, that same little piece of plastic would just now be finishing it’s decomposition.
Our planet is choking on plastic bags.
In the time it took you to read this sentence, well over 600 plastic bags were thrown away in the state of California alone. These days, of all the plastic bags consumed, only a mere 1-3% percent is recycled. What’s more, they are only a fraction of the problem. Today’s brown bag or sack lunches primarily consist of pre-packaged disposable individual servings of heavily processed “food.” As One Small Step’s new “Who Needs The Junk” video shows, in one school year, the average child can generate up to 67 pounds of trash, just from lunch waste!
One piece of trash, that’s all we ask.
Can you believe all it takes to help the environment is a simple pledge to eliminate one piece of trash every day? Think of the impact if each and every one of us made this simple commitment. Can’t live without that morning-commute latte? Keep an insulated travel mug in your car. Is your child gaga for a certain squeezable yogurt that starts with a “G?” Find him the same flavor of yogurt in a large, family-sized tub, and pack his lunch with a small serving sealed into a stainless steel container with a bamboo mini-spoon - and when the yogurt runs out, he’ll have a brand-new crayon holder!
It’s easier than you think to save the planet.
All it takes to significantly reduce environmental damage is to get a whole lot of people talking and taking one small step! For ideas, consumers can pledge to “Boycott The Baggie” (www.boycottthebaggie.com), for simple, easy-to-follow ways to reduce waste and go green!
As an added bonus, this would leave a lot more green in the bank too! Consider the fact that waste-free lunches cost one-third less than lunches served in disposable products. The average disposable lunch costs approximately $4.02 per day and the average waste-free lunch costs about $2.65 per day, which equals to a savings of over $240 per child per year!
To take the pledge, please visit: www.boycottthebaggie.com/pledge. To help eliminate waste from your life, please visit www.onesmallstep.com for more ideas.
Sources: LaptopLunches.com, NY State Department of Conservation, & Californians Against Waste
“Boycott The Baggie” is a campaign that CEO/Founder of OneSmallStep.com, Renata Bodon kicked off after she started collecting trash to show what one school year of lunch trash looks like. She partnered with The Sippy Cups* to create the song “Who Needs the Junk?”; the resulting video challenges viewers to re-consider their choices.
Founded in 2008 by Renata Bodon, when her daughter entered a school that required waste-free lunches, she found it challenging to find safe and high-quality reusable lunch ware. With One Small Step, Bodon eliminates that struggle for others.
A one-stop online resource that features everything from eco-friendly food containers, wraps, and bags, to napkins, lunch ware and more, One Small Step has everything families need to go green!
A great resource for hard-to-find eco-friendly items, One Small Step's products are: environmentally-friendly, safe & non-toxic (no lead, BPA, Phthalates, PVC, etc.) and stylish!
For more information or to shop One Small Step, please visit www.OneSmallStep.com.
* The Sippy Cups were founded by the parents of pre-schoolers who are excited by the world of creativity inhabited by our children. Their music is inspired by children (and sometimes even composed by them!) Several of these parents work in schools throughout California, and guide other parents into making music with their children. The Sippy Cups teach school groups how to resolve their conflicts without violence, while educating and entertaining school children about the wonders of our environment and how to keep it alive for their children.
This press release is presented without editing for your information only.
Full Disclosure Statement: The GREEN (LIVING) REVIEW received no compensation for any component of this article.
