Club Expats, the reallocation service that many of our friends and colleagues in the asset management industry have used when arriving to Miami says: “Help us reduce the number of plastic bags that end up in the ocean”.
Rebeca Calvet, founder of the Club Expats in Miami has a great challenge for us that can help reduce the trash in our beaches… and at the same time raise awareness for this problem and money for The Seed School of Miami. She is proposing to make November a plastic bag free month.
By joining this challenge you pledge to donate one dollar to The Seed School of Miami for each plastic bag you use. I made a trial and, being very careful my family used 22 plastic bags in an average week. In a month this would account to 88 dollars for The Seed School of Miami, the less plastic we use, the better for the environment. If we fail to reduce our plastic waste The Seed School will get their donation. This is a win-win situation. You can join the pledge, or simply donate through this link.
These are the facts:
- Americans use 100 billion plastic bags a year, with the average American family taking home almost 1,500 plastic shopping bags each year.
- Up to 80% of ocean plastic pollution enters the ocean from land.
- At least 267 different species have been affected by plastic pollution in the ocean.
- 100,000 marine animals are killed by plastic bags annually.
- One in three leatherback sea turtles have been found with plastic in their stomachs.
- Plastic bags are used for an average of 12 minutes.
- It takes 500 (or more) years for a plastic bag to degrade in a landfill. Unfortunately the bags don’t break down completely but instead photo-degrade, becoming microplastics that absorb toxins and continue to pollute the environment.
This facts have been sourced from the Center for Biological Diversity