Plastic bags are made from polyethylene: a thermoplastic made from crude oil.

American Chemical Society, 2011

110 billion plastic bags are produced in Indonesia, Taiwan, and Vietnam every year.

United States International Trade Commission 2009

Up to 1 trillion plastic bags are used worldwide every year.

The New York Times, 2007

That’s 2 million plastic bags every minute.

It takes up to 1,000 years for plastic bags to break into smaller pieces. They never fully

decompose.

The Ocean Conservancy, 2013

How many plastic bags do you use a day?

How many plastic bags do you use a year?

Where do all these plastic bags go?

Bags get blown around…

…to different parts of our lands…

…into our drains, flooding our streets...

… into our rivers…

… into our oceans…

… onto our shores.

Plastic bags have been found floating far away from any city.

British Antarctic Survey ,2010

Where’s Antarctica? 10,000 kilometers from Cambodia!

Plastic kills animals.

World Wildlife Fund Report, 2013

Plastic kills more than 1 million birds a year.

World Wildlife Fund Report, 2005

Plastic can enter the food chain.

The Sierra Club, 2013

Sea animals sometimes die after trying to eat plastic bags, which they mistake for

food.

World Wildlife Fund Report, 2005

Algalita Marine Research Foundation, 2009

Seabirds also eat plastic.

Ullmann’s Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry 2007

Styrofoam (Polystyrene) is a plastic.

Battambang, 2008

Do not burn plastic. The smoke is poisonous and can cause respiratory diseases, birth defects, cancer, headaches and immune

system disorders.

World Health Organization, 2005

Battambang, 2008

Battambang, 2008

Phnom Penh, 2008

Phnom Penh, 2008

Phnom Penh, 2008

What can we do to stop using so much plastic?

1. Reduce/Avoid

Use a cloth bag or your backpack.

2. Reuse plastic bags and containers.

3. Recycle

How many times can these items be recycled?

• Aluminum can?• Tin can?• Paper?• Cardboard?• Glass bottles and jars?• Plastic bottles and bags?• Styrofoam/polystyrene?

Recycle Times:

• Aluminum can: Infinitely• Tin can: Infinitely• Paper: 5 – 7 times into new paper• Cardboard: 8 times• Glass bottles and jars: Infinitely• Plastic bottles and bags: Once• Styrofoam/polystyrene: Usually never

United States Environmental Protection Agency 2012

4. Bury

Bury your plastic trash!

China banned free plastic bags. This ban saves 37 million barrels of oil a year.

World Watch Institute, 2013

Ireland started taxing plastic bags in 2002 and has now reduced plastic bag use by 90

percent.

BBC News, 2002

Rwanda banned plastic bags in 2008 and remains plastic free.

The Atlantic Post, 2013

Bangladesh has banned plastic bags.

Aljazeera News, 2008

South Africa, Italy, Somalia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Eritrea, Australia, Switzerland, France, Tasmania, Taiwan, Papua New

Guinea, New Zealand, Samoa, Singapore, Bhutan, Malta, Japan, Israel, Canada, western India and Mexico have also

banned plastic bags.

BBC News, 2013

Cambodia can do it too!

What can you do to use less plastic?

• Eat at restaurants/hang byes instead of getting take-away.• Use a stone or metal bowl.• Reuse and wash plastic bags and containers.• Say no to straws.• Use glasses and cups and metal water bottles instead of plastic bottles. • Don’t eat packaged food. • Tell your family and friends!

BEWARE OF PLASTIC!

• Plastic is made out of oil.

• Do not put hot liquids or food in plastic.

• Do not reuse plastic water bottles.

•

U.S. National Library of Medicine National Institute of Health, 2013

Remember

1.) Reduce

2.) Reuse

3.) Recycle

4.) Bury

•