Recycling Plastic Bags Reduces Waste
Recycling plastic bags helps reduce the use of new plastics. It also helps reduce the use of wood. Most recycled plastic bags become part of a plastic-lumber composite material, reducing the need to cut down forests to create lumber products. In an era of increasing environmental constraint, thinking wisely about reuse rather than using new materials makes sense.
Recycling Plastic Bags Prevents Litter
Plastic bags are something that animals often pull out of residential garbage cans, and this plastic ends up on roadways and in forests. Plastic bags catch the wind and often make their way into trees. This is not a pleasant sight--it's better to bundle them up and take them to a recycling depot.
Recycling Plastic Bags Helps Sea Life
Recycling plastic bags prevents them from eventually being dumped into the ocean, where they could not only become part of the Pacific Garbage Patch, but also directly damage marine life. Sea turtles, for example, can starve to death if they eat a plastic bag. These turtles naturally eat jellyfish, and floating plastic bags look like jellyfish to them. Once ingested, plastic bags disrupt their digestive tracts.
