January 16, 2016
To:
Schools (public, private, charter, home school groups), Scout Groups, Churches, and Citizens
Dear Educators & Fellow Delawareans,
Would you like to meaningfully engage your students or group on environmental issues without
spending an inordinate amount of time? BringYourOwnBag Delaware (BYOB) has a unique
opportunity for schools, groups and individuals!
WHEN?
Starting at noon, Saturday April 23, the day following Earth Day 2016, we will be meeting at the
Wilmington Riverfront to attempt to set a record in the Guinness Book of World Records for the
world’s largest plastic bag ball. [Team Contacts will be notified of alternative plans in case of rain. BE
SURE TO REGISTER YOUR TEAM].
WHAT?
Between now and April 23rd, teams must register their intent to participate, then begin collecting
clean, dry, and previously used “single-use” plastic bags (the thin plastic bags with built in handles
typically distributed at grocery stores, convenience stores and drug stores). BYOB can provide your
group with cardboard bin(s) to decorate and place signage on to collect bags in schools and other
permissible locations.
WHERE?
Wilmington Riverfront, 400 Justison St., Wilmington, DE 19801.
Collected bags should be delivered to the Justison Landing Park along Wilmington’s
Riverfront between NOON and 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 23rd.
Bags should be pre-counted with 49 bags placed inside one bag, thereby creating bundles of 50
bags. This will make it easier to know how many bags are being used in the ball and eliminate
fugitive escapees down on the riverfront. DO NOT BRING ANY OTHER TYPE OF PLASTIC BAGS,
PLASTIC WRAP OR FILM OTHER THAN SINGLE-USE PLASTIC BAGS WITH SELF-HANDLES.
Participants who desire are invited to stay and help create the Bag Ball that afternoon.
PRIZES
Will be awarded for:
- The collection team that brings the largest number of clean, dry, used plastic bags in 100 unit
bundles will win a Trex bench made out of recycled plastic composite donated by Trex!
- For the creative types, awards will be given recognizing the recycling bins with best
artwork/signage/messaging (OPTIONAL) (must be the standard bins being distributed by this
event committee and be brought for judging to the Riverfront on April 23rd no later than 1 p.m.).
- The first 500 team members to check-in on April 23rd will receive a reusable shopping tote.
- Honorary awards will be sent to every participating team.
WHY?
To raise awareness about the single-use plastics, our throwaway culture, and the negative
environmental and cultural impacts of “disposable” plastic bags. This will be a fun lesson for kids of
all ages and can easily be integrated across curriculums, including history, math, science, and civics.
See attached Fact Sheet. Learn more at www.BringYourOwnBag.us.
WHO?
Groups of all shapes and sizes are invited to REGISTER and participate (pre-registration required!),
as well as individuals.
The event is being organized by BringYourOwnBag Delaware and the Sierra Club Delaware Chapter.
Partners to date include Trex and the Delaware Solid Waste Authority. The New Castle Conservation
District is a Sponsor. Additional partners and sponsors always welcome!
KEEP US POSTED/SHARE YOUR PROGRESS:
Between now and April 23rd have your team members post photos to our social media pages as
inspiration to others! FACEBOOK and TWITTER @byobde or use #byobde on Instagram.
Through participation in the event, students can raise awareness about environmental stewardship
and sustainability, recycling, reducing the use of “single-use” plastics, and become models for others.
These “disposable” bags which are often disposed of improperly or escape into our communities and
watersheds, clogging our city’s storm drains, killing marine life, and breaking down into small particles
and becoming part of our food chain.
Register your school or group team HERE. We can then deliver or arrange for pickup of a new
thirty gallon cardboard recycling container in which your students will collect clean, dry and previously
used “single-use” plastic bags. Bins can be decorated and signage placed on them. Bins may be
brought to the event on April 23rd for optional judging of best design/artwork/messaging (optional).
For more information, please email Nancy Crain, [email protected] or Dee Durham,
[email protected].
We look forward to working with you and creating the World’s Largest Plastic Bag Ball together!
See you in April!!
Nancy Crain
Co-Chair, BringYourOwnBag Delaware
Dee Durham
Co-Chair, BringYourOwnBag Delaware
302-981-1950
www.BringYourOwnBag.us
DELAWARE
“Single Use” Plastic Bags
FACT SHEET
Plastic bags are the second most prevalent item picked up each year in Delaware’s Coastal Cleanup days
(cigarette butts are #1). In 2014, this amounted to 2,777 bags found in less than 97 miles of coastline in just a
few hours’ time. DNREC
First introduced in the 1970s, plastic bags now account for four out of every five bags handed out at the
grocery store. - National Geographic
Plastic bag litter has become such an environmental nuisance and eyesore that China, Scotland, Wales,
Ireland, Taiwan, South Africa, Australia, and Bangladesh and many countries, cities and U.S. counties have
heavily taxed the totes or banned their use outright. The 15 cent (about 20 cents U.S.) tax on plastic bags
introduced in Ireland in March 2002 has resulted in a 95 percent reduction in their use. - Friends of the Irish
Environment in County Cork
The County of Maui and Kauai join American Samoa in banning plastic shopping bags in the Pacific area. Other
cities like San Francisco, Portland, San Jose, Santa Monica, Marin County, South Padre, Texas, coastal North
Carolina, and other California cities like Malibu, Palo Alto, Fairfax, and Los Angeles County
have bag bans. California cities of Fremont, Sunnyvale, Santa Cruz, Trent Hills, Long Beach, Santa Clara County,
and other areas such as Philadelphia, New York, Seattle, Boston, Phoenix, Arkansas, Oregon, Vermont,
Connecticut, and Maryland are also considering legislation to ban plastic bags. Other countries that have
banned free plastic bags include China, Bangladesh, Australia, Italy, South Africa, Ireland, and Taiwan. - U.S.
EPA
About 2 million plastic bags are used every minute around the world. - Earth Policy Institute
Approximately 32 million tons of plastic waste are generated annually, representing 12.7% of total municipal
solid waste. - U.S. EPA
Only 1 in 200 plastic bags in the UK are recycled. – BBC
The average American family takes home 1,500 plastic bags a year. Natural Resources Defense Council
Americans use and throw away 100 billion plastic bags every year, which requires 12 million barrels of oil per
year to manufacture. The Wall Street Journal
Scientists estimate that every square mile of ocean contains approximately 46,000 pieces of plastic floating in
it. United Nations Environment Programme
An estimated 3,960,000 tons of plastic bags, sack and wraps are produced annually. Of those, 3,570,000 tons
(90%) are discarded. This is almost triple the amount discarded the first year plastic bag numbers were tracked
(1,230,000 tons in 1980). U.S. EPA
Only from .5% to 3% of all bags winds up recycled. BBC, CNN
The U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually at an estimated cost to retailers of $4 billion.
The Wall Street Journal
According to data from the Ocean Conservancy's annual International Coastal Cleanups, plastic bags are
consistently in the top 10 pieces of trash collected on beaches around the world.
The extremely slow decomposition rate of plastic bags leaves them to drift on the ocean for untold years.
According to the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, these plastic bags cause the death of many marine
animals (fish, sea turtles, etc.), every year when animals mistake them for food, or they smother habitat when
they sink and cover the ocean floor.
When plastics break down, they don't biodegrade; they photodegrade. This means the materials break down
to smaller fragments which readily soak up toxins. They then contaminate soil, waterways, and animals upon
digestion, ending up in our own food chain as small toxic particles. Earth911
10% of the plastic produced every year worldwide winds up in the ocean, 70% of which finds its way to the
ocean floor, where it will likely never degrade. United Nations
In 2001, Ireland implemented a plastic tax (or PlasTax); the first of its kind, this route acknowledges the fact
that people will still occasionally use plastic bags. This market-based solution discourages daily, thoughtless
use of plastic bags by charging a nominal fee per bag at checkout. In a study by the Irish Department of the
Environment it was found that plastic bag usage had dropped 93.5%. This breaks down to a drop from 328 to
21 bags per person each year.
Researchers have commonly found plastic bags in the digestive tracts of dead sea turtles (noting that 37.2% of
Leatherback turtle necropsies from 1968 to 2009 showed plastic in their stomachs, and plastic bags were the
most commonly found item). [N. Mrosovsky et al., Leatherback Turtles: The Menace of Plastic, 58 MARINE
POLLUTION BULL. 287, 287-88 (2009)]
A recent study in California and Indonesia found 28% of the fish and shellfish in markers contained plastic
particles or “man-made” fiber in their guts. www.Nature.com/scientificreports (Chelsea M. Rochman, Akbar
Tahir, Susan L. Williams, Dolores V. Baxa, Rosalyn Lam, Jeffrey T. Miller, Foo-Ching Teh, Shinta Werorilangi &
Swee J. The)
Each high-quality reusable bag used has the potential to eliminate an average of 1,000 plastic bags over its
lifetime.
The production and transportation of plastic bags represents an unsustainable and wasteful use of nonrenewable resources and unnecessarily contributes more pollution and toxins to our environment. An
estimated 12 million barrels of oil (or natural gas equivalent) is used to make the 14 billion plastic bags
Americans use each year, plus transportation and disposal costs.