More Than 21,000 Plastic Bags Collected During 2016 America Recycles Day Events

america-recycles-day-2016Residents brought in a record-setting amount of more than 21,000 plastic bags to be recycled during the La Porte County Solid Waste District’s America Recycles Day events this week.

Over the past four years, the District has used these events at Al’s Supermarkets to educate residents about the right way to recycle plastic bags. A new event was also added at the J-MARt BP in Wanatah.

“It’s very important for people to know that we no longer accept loose plastic bags in our recycling program, and these events gave me a chance to explain why to hundreds of residents,” said Alicia Ebaugh, the District’s education and public outreach coordinator. “It’s even more important that everyone knows they can bring plastic bags back to many stores to be recycled.”

Ebaugh used these events to promote the fact that all Al’s Supermarket locations now accept plastic bags for recycling year-round, but she noted that they can also be taken to other stores like Meijer, Kroger, and WalMart. Not only are grocery bags acceptable to recycle, but you can also include with them clean and dry retail, newspaper, dry cleaning, bread, produce, and other plastic bags labeled #2 and #4; plastic food storage bags; furniture and electronic wrap; and case wrap used on paper towels, diapers, bathroom tissue and water bottles.

The sheer number of plastic bags – about 100 billion -- used each year in the United States is astounding, Ebaugh said. That figures out to about 308 per person, so she said a family of four might go through about 1,250 single-use plastic bags per year. The amount collected would have been used by only about 68 residents over one year.

“We bring plastic bags home from pretty much anywhere we shop for food, clothes and other items, our newspapers are often wrapped in them, and we even buy more to simply throw away,” Ebaugh said. “Plastic bags may be convenient, but when our county can go through more than 34 million of them in a year, it's time to start thinking about ways to reduce the amount of waste we create.”

Most of all, though, the District used these events to promote reuse, she said, giving out about 350 reusable bags to residents in exchange for these plastic bags during the events.

“When you make the switch to reusable bags for shopping, you not only reduce waste, you reduce the amount of litter that ends up in our communities,” Ebaugh said.

More people than ever before participated in the plastic bag swap events this year, which she said was encouraging. “We've been educating on the proper way to recycle plastic bags -- at the store -- for a few years now, and many participants said they frequently bring their bags with them,” Ebaugh said. “Plus, those who have gotten reusable bags are using them, reducing the number of plastic bags they are bringing in even more.”

Several of the District’s Master Recycler graduates also pitched in to help with the events by talking with residents and counting bags. The District would like to thank them, Al’s Supermarkets for their continued partnership on these events, and other sponsors including Keep America Beautiful, Republic Services and the J-MARt BP.