Plastic-Free WNC

LET’S MAKE WNC PLASTIC FREE

PLASTIC POLLUTION IS A GLOBAL PROBLEM.
WE ALL HAVE TO BE PART OF THE SOLUTION.

Single-use plastics clog up Western North Carolina’s rivers and streams and break down into smaller and smaller pieces called microplastics.

Once in waterways, these microplastics are consumed by aquatic life forms, which are then ingested by the larger organisms that eat them, including humans.

The bioaccumulation of these plastics and the additives used to make them can be harmful or toxic to both wildlife and people.

TOGETHER, WE CAN STOP PLASTIC POLLUTION AT THE SOURCE.

Let’s enact common-sense laws at the state and local levels to limit the use of single-use plastics before they end up as litter in our rivers, lakes and streams.

PLASTIC BY THE NUMBES

100 billion:

The number of plastic bags used by Americans every year.
12 million:

The number of barrels of oil needed to produce a year's worth of plastic bags.
12 minutes:

The average amount of time a single-use plastic bag is used.
25 billion:

The number of styrofoam cups used by Americans every year.
500-1 million:

The number of years a styrofoam cup persists in our environment.
500:

The number of local plastic bag ordinances that have been adopted in 28 US states as of October 2021.
189:

The number of new coal plants it would take to equal the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by plastic production each year.
2%:

The frequency with which a plastic product is effectively recycled. For example, a plastic bottle is recycled into another plastic bottle only 2% of the time.
1-2:

The number of uses most plastic products can withstand before they reach a form that can no longer be recycled.
91%

The percentage of plastics that have not and will never be recycled.