The Use of Plastic Bags

Agenda• Background

• Video

• Plastic Bag Facts

• Project Details and Tips

Questions1. Who here uses plastic bags when they go shopping?

2. What are some good things about plastic bags?

3. How much do you think it costs to make a bag? How much are you charged at the store?

4. What do you think happens to plastic bags after you use them?

5. What effect do you think this might have on the environment?

6. What steps do you think we might be able to take in order to help minimize this?

Videohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrAShtolieg

Use of Plastic Bags• Plastic bags popular with both retailers and consumers because

cheap, strong, lightweight

• Plastic bags are a very lucrative industry

• About 380 billion plastic bags used a year in US alone, 100 billion of with are plastic shopping bags

• Only 1 to 2% of plastic bags in US get recycled

Making Plastic Bags• Making plastic bags uses petroleum and natural gas, both non-

renewable resources

• Drilling for these materials destroys ecosystems

• There are toxic substances used as well

• Many people are employed by plastic bag producers

• They have less environmental impact than paper bags

Effects of Plastic Bag Use• Plastic bags litter landscape, or if burned release toxic fumes into

air

• Plastic bags are non-biodegradable, decomposition takes about 1000 years

Effects of Plastic Bag Use• Even when photo-degrade in landfill, plastic from bags never

goes away, and toxic particles can enter food chain

• Plastic bags kill about 100 000 animals a year, who mistake them for food

How to Help• Recycle plastic bags for other uses, such as holding garbage

• If you don’t absolutely need a bag at a store don’t ask for one

• Use a reusable bag such as a fabric bag

Assignment Details• During this project you will be

1. Collecting research on plastic bags

2. Collecting data using a method designed by your group

3. Helping to spread information about this topic in two different ways

4. Presenting your assignment to the class

Collecting Research• Research will be done next class in the computer

lab

• Students will also be expected to finish this research on their own time

Performing a Case Study• You will also be expected to gather your own

data in the form of a case study

• Examples of this is taking a poll from a random group of people, or making observations for a large set of people or events

• Make sure you have at least 100 data points

Displaying Results of a Case Study• Results can be displayed in a visual way using

bar graphs, pie charts, or scatter plots

• Think of creative ways to show data that has more than one variable

Spreading Information• This can be done using several methods

• Poster• Letter written to local government• Video• Song• Action Plan• Etc

• They must either spread information about plastic bags, or help the issue in some other way

Presentation• Prepare a 10 minute presentation to give to the class

about the case study results as well as your chosen methods of presenting this information

• Groups will evaluate each other