Saturday, February 18, 2012

Local Businesses Support Plastic Bag Ban

Pictured is Suzanne Lazaro who finished a very successful day in the Bag It Corvallis Business Outreach campaign. She is smiling because 50 businesses in downtown Corvallis, have signed a letter of support! Many local businesses recognize the importance of reducing single-use plastic waste for the safety of our community and environment.

The Marys Peak Group of the Sierra Club will also be showing the award-winning environmental documentary "Bag It" on Friday, March 23. "Bag It" follows “everyman” Jeb Berrier as he tries to make sense of our dependence on plastic bags. Although his quest starts out small, Jeb soon learns that the problem extends past landfills to oceans, rivers, and ultimately human health.

The average American uses about 500 plastic bags each year, for about 12 minutes each. This single-use mentality has led to the formation of a floating mass of plastic debris in the Pacific Ocean gyre, which in some places outnumber plankton 40 to 1. The film explores these issues and identifies how our daily reliance on plastic threatens not only waterways and marine life, but human health, too. Two of the most common plastic additives are endocrine disruptors, which have been shown to link to cancer, diabetes, autism, attention deficit disorder, obesity, and infertility.

'Bag It' Screening: Sunday, March 23
Time: 7 to 9 p.m.
Screening Location: Benton County Library
Admission: Free