Be Part of the Solution
It’s not easy being green? Sorry Kermit but you were wrong! Being green can be easy. And look amazing!
Our vision is to help empower people to live greener, happier lives. By changing a few daily habits, together our actions and will have a cumulative positive effect on the environmental problems plaguing the earth.
DID YOU KNOW:
- Data released by the United States Environmental Protection Agency shows that somewhere between 500 billion and a trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year.
- National Geographic News September 2, 2003 - Less than 1% of bags are recycled. It costs $4,000 to process and recycle 1 ton of plastic bags, which can then be sold on the commodities market for $32.
- Christian Science Monitor News Paper and Jared Blumenfeld (Director of San Francisco’s Department of the Environment) - Plastic bags account for over 10 percent of the debris washed up on the US coastline.
- National Marine Debris Monitoring Program - Plastic bags photodegrade: Over time they break down into smaller, more toxic petro-polymers which eventually contaminate soils and waterways.
- CNN.com/techonology, November 16, 2007 - Nearly 200 different species of sea life including whales, dolphins, seals and turtles die due to plastic bags. They die after ingesting plastic bags which they mistake for food.
- World Wildlife Fund Report 2005 - Plastic shopping bags are made from polyethylene: a thermoplastic made from oil.
- CNN.com/techonology, November 16, 2007 - Reducing plastic bags will decrease foreign oil dependency. China will save 37 million barrels of oil each year due to their ban of free plastic bags.
- CNN.com/asia January 9, 2008 - Countries such as Bangladesh, China, Ireland, Rwanda, Israel, Canada, western India, Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Taiwan, and Singapore have already banned or are moving toward banning plastic bags.
- On March 27th 2007, San Francisco becomes the first US city to ban plastic bags.
IF WE USE A REUSABLE SHOPPING BAG:
- We can save 6 bags a week
- That’s 24 bags a month
- And 288 bags a year
- That’s 22,176 bags in an average lifetime
If just 1 out of 5 people in our country stopped using plastic grocery bags we would save 1,330,560,000,000.
SO WHAT CAN YOU DO NEXT TIME YOU’RE OUT AND ABOUT?
- Use your Bagonia and Birch reusable shopping bags when you’re buying groceries, at the mall, grabbing take out or at a Farmers Market.
- Use one of your Bagonia and Birch reusable shopping bags to temporarily store recyclables (i.e. bottles, cans, paper, plastic packaging…) when recycle bins aren’t available in public, then throw your recyclables in your recycle bin when you get home.
- Use hand dryers instead of paper towels where available. If paper towels are necessary, use just one (really just one will work).
- Park in the first spot you can find instead of driving around. Saves gas and emissions, and gives you some extra exercise. See how easy it is to live green and be healthy?
SOME SUPER EASY ECO-TIVITIES THAT WILL GREEN YOUR HOME:
- Put a 2 liter (sealed) bottle of water in your toilet tank to save two gallons of water per flush.
- Get a trash can for your recyclable trash that is larger than the can for your non-recyclable trash.
- Re-use the same water glass throughout the day to reduce dish washing.
- Spend one night a week in candlelight. Saves energy and creates a great atmosphere!
- Use pitchers to make juice and iced tea instead of buying beverages in cartons.
Life is short… Live light. Live green. Live happy.
Do you have a must do eco-tip? Email it to us at info@hernicheproducts.com and we’ll add it to our list.
