Earth Day Panelists Urge Reduction of Single Use Plastics

Throughout the world, one million plastic bottles are bought every minute; each one can take up to 100 years to degrade.

Five hundred billion plastic bags are used each year.

Eight million tons of plastic enter oceans and wash up on beaches every year.

Unless we change our ways, by weight there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish in the year 2050.

These are just some of the alarming statistics presented at Planet vs. Plastic, a workshop presented as part of the Earth Day activities on St. John sponsored by Island Green Living Association.

Keynote speaker Dawn Henry of Beyond Plastics urged audience members to face the facts: In spite of what plastic manufacturers promised decades ago, only about six percent of plastics are ever recycled.