Plastic Bags Curbside Trash Plastic bags are not accepted in curbside recycling as they can cause a lot of problems such as getting stuck in the sorting equipment. They must be placed in your curbside trash cart. However, be sure to check with your city’s garbage collection service as some of these materials can be placed in the recycling cart. As an alternative, you may be able to recycle your plastic bags, film and wrap at participating locations by bringing them to a drop-off location. Find your closest drop-off location. Ways to Reduce Reusable Bags Bring along a reusable tote to save plastic on your next trip to the grocery store. Some grocery stores will offer a small cash rebate when you bring in bags. Ways to Reuse Reuse Plastic Bags Reuse plastic bags as much as you can. You can use them to line small garbage bins around your home and keep an emergency stash in your car for the days you forget your reusable bags at home (such as at the grocery store). Did You Know? The Impact of Plastic Pollution More than one million plastic bags are used per minute worldwide, and on a daily basis, over 10 metric tons of plastic from Los Angeles enters the Pacific Ocean each day. Ninety percent of trash floating in the ocean is from plastic that will take between five hundred and one thousand years to degrade. In the meantime, one million birds and 100,000 marine animals are killed each year because of plastic floating in the ocean. Plastic Bags Become Composite Lumber Check out this fun video from Vancouver, Washington about how plastic bags and films are recycled into products like composite lumber, which is often used to make decks.
