Interesting Facts

October 5th Shoppers in England will have to pay 5p for a plastic bag from today.

According to figures from the Halifax, of every £100.00 spent in the UK (not including credit), debit cards account for £28.87, direct debits for £19.90, so-called ‘faster payments’, which covers internet and smartphone transactions, for £12.81, cheques £11.28, standing orders £7.82 and 'other' methods of paying bills £1.34. (This means that only £17.99, is spent in cold, hard cash, down by £3.03 on a year ago, So maybe the death knell is already ringing for the money in your pocket. +Andrey Orlov  - It's funny how sometimes people ask me a question in a session, and then it crops up in the news.  :) )

Plastic bags take between 200 and 1000 years to biodegrade. (How long does it take for different materials to biodegrade? Paper Tissues - 2-4 weeks Banana Peel - 3-4 weeks Paper Bag - 1 month Newspaper - 1.5 months Apple Core - 2 months Cardboard - 2 months Cotton Glove - 3 months Orange peels - 6 months Plywood - 1-3 years Wool Sock - 1-5 years Milk Cartons - 5 years Cigarette Butts - 10-12 years Leather shoes - 25-40 years Tin Can - 50 years Foamed Plastic Cups - 50 years Rubber-Boot Sole - 50-80 years Plastic containers - 50-80 years Aluminum Can - 200-500 years Plastic Bottles - 450 years Disposable Diapers - 550 years Monofilament Fishing Line - 600 years Plastic Bags - 200-1000 years) #banplasticbags

According to Recoup, about 35% of the 13.1 billion plastic bottles used by UK households annually are recycled. (This is up from 3% in 2001. So, things are improving.)

According to the National Geographic up to one quarter of the sand on shorelines can be composed of plastic particles. (U.K. researchers in Plymouth and Southampton, England, found that microscopic fragments of nylon, polyester, and seven other types of plastic are widespread in sediments around British shores. This is in addition to the washed up bottles, plastic bags and nappy liners that adorn our beaches after high tide.)

A study commissioned by DEFRA in 2000, showed that UK consumers used eight billion plastic carrier bags per year. However, it also showed that more than 80 per cent of people in the UK re-use their plastic carrier bags. (In the Republic of Ireland, by introducing a 15 cent plastax, they cut their use by more than 90% and raised millions of euros in revenue. In Bangladesh polythene bags are banned altogether. I have a bag for life, but I still get given carrier bags, unless I tell the shop assistant I don't want one.)