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Five shocking facts that will make you never want to use plastic again

Seriously. It's time to ditch those bags and straws.

While we are regularly told that plastic is bad for the environment, we rarely see the devastating affects it can have on our planet and our oceans up close. Drop a straw or bottle in the trash, and it quickly disappears from mind.

But – and this is a big BUT – once that plastic finds its way into landfills, or worse, sloshing around in our seas, it quickly pollutes our waters and our air, and eventually ends up polluting our blood streams too. It sounds crazy, but it's true. And we all have a part to play in it.

Read the following facts and you will never want to use plastic again.

1. Plastic never goes away

Plastic, as a substance, is made to last forever. It just breaks into smaller and smaller pieces, and the toxic chemicals it leaches can be found in the blood and tissue of nearly all of us. Exposure to them is linked to cancers, birth defects, impaired immunity, and other diseases.

 

2. Our seas are swimming with it

Plastic constitutes approximately 90 percent of all trash floating on the ocean's surface, with 46,000 pieces of plastic per square mile.

 

3. Plastic threatens wildlife

​Over 260 species, including invertebrates, turtles, fish, seabirds and mammals, have been reported to ingest or become entangled in plastic debris.

 

4. The mountain of plastic just keeps on growing

Americans discard more than 30 million tons of plastic a year. Only 8 percent gets recycled. Just imagine what it's like in Thailand, where every bag handed out seems to come with another bag inside it.

 

5. The number of bags discarded each day is crazy

Annually approximately 500 billion plastic bags are used worldwide. More than one million bags are used every minute. That's just nuts.

Shocked by the statistics above? We are.
If you want to make a difference, be the change you want to see today.
When it comes to plastic, just say NO!

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