Rethinking Plastics Campaign
Join us on February 12 for a Plastics Awareness Symposium
NEWS FLASH: Congrats to LA County for Banning the Plastic Bag!
Consequences of Convenience
We’re addicted to plastic, especially plastic bags.
If you are like 95% of US shoppers, whenever you purchase anything, it ends up in a plastic bag. In the grocery store, most of us put our vegetables and fruits as well as bulk items into single-use plastic produce bags, and all those bags end up in a single-use plastic check-out bag.
Shoppers worldwide are using 500 billion to one trillion single-use plastic bags per year.
This translates to about a million bags every minute across the globe, or 150 bags a year for every person on earth. And the number is rising.
“But plastic bags are so convenient!”
It depends on how far you are looking. A plastic bag may be convenient for a minute or two when you carry something out of the store, but consider these costs:
- Plastic bags are made from a non-renewable resource: oil!
An estimated 3 million barrels of oil are required to produce the 19 billion plastic bags used annually in California. - Greenhouse gas emissions
Plastic manufacturing’s air pollution contributes greatly to global “weirding” (extreme weather of all sorts) we are experiencing is the result. - Non-biodegradable
Plastic is food for no one. It never completely breaks down. - Litter
We see bags hanging on trees, along the roadside, slipping down the storm drain, and floating in the ocean. Even when we do put them in the garbage, they don’t always make it to the landfill. 47% of landfill blow-away trash is plastic. - Toxicity
Manufacturing plastic releases toxins in the air, as does recycling plastic. The additives used in plastic are often toxic and can leach into our food. The surface of plastic is chemically attractive to some of the worst toxins in our environment (e.g., PCBs and pesticide metabolites). - Harm to Marine Life
More than 100,000 marine mammals and turtles, one million seabirds, and countless fish worldwide are killed by plastic rubbish each year. - Choking the ocean
Beaches on every continent are littered with plastic scraps and particles. In a recent surface trawl of the North Pacific Gyre, 46 pounds of plastic were found for every pound of zooplankton. - We’re eating plastic
Fine particles of plastic are taken in by filter-feeders in the ocean. These plastic-laden small creatures are then eaten by larger animals and plastics work their way up the food chain, all the way to our seafood menu.
Green Sangha’s Work
Since 2006, our actions have included:
- Promoting a successful campaign to ban plastic check-out bags in Fairfax, California, which reduces eights tons of waste per year
- Encouraging local and chain markets in California to reduce or eliminate plastic bags – produce bags as well as tote bags
- Giving over 240 talks to over 7000 citizens
- Publishing articles in local newspapers and magazines
- Showing our plastics display in scores of festivals, conferences, and other public gatherings
- Testifying before elected councils and boards
What You Can Do
- Be the Change
- Take your reusable bags wherever you shop; if you forget it, go get it!
- Visit MyPlasticfreeLife.com to see how Beth Terry has reduced her plastic footprint creatively, and with good humor, too.
- Learn about Ban the Bag Movements & Legislation in your area.
- Learn more about Green Sangha’s Rethinking Plastics Campaign.
- Share
- Plastic State of Mind (http://bit.ly/plasticstateofmind)
- Our Problem & Solution Guide (pdf)
- This page on Facebook or other networks
- Join the Campaign. Sign up for our Email Newsletter to read about current actions and starting one in your community.
- Support Our Work. Donate to help us spread the word and produce more videos, raising awareness and catalyzing real change.
Working Together
Tell us your ideas and wishes for your locality, and we can multiply our results. We can speed the “Great Turning” away from the model of industrial waste and pollution, and instead move toward sustainable communities.
Plastic State of Mind Credits
Ben Zolno of New Message Media – Writer/Lyricist/Director/Bag Boy/Editor
Glenn Sauber – Shopper
AshEl Eldridge – Rapper
Jenni Perez – Singer
Bex Kanengiser – Cashier
Many Green Sangha volunteers – Shoppers
Amy English – Production Coordinator, AD
David Nakabayashi – DP
Harrison Pierce – Consultant, Animatic, AC
Bo Cox – Camera Op
Working Music Track – Colin Menzies
Final Music Track and Mastering – Amurai
…and thank you to all the wonderful volunteers!
Sponsored by
Good Earth Natural and Organic Grocery
To-Go Ware
Chico Bag
People Towels
25 Responses to 'Rethinking Plastics Campaign'
Subscribe to comments with RSS or TrackBack to 'Rethinking Plastics Campaign'.
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[...] in the battle against the Plastic Bag Monster reminded me of this fun and inspiring video from Green Sangha, with Bay Area performers and activists AshEl Eldridge and Jenni [...]
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[...] Shoppers worldwide are using 500 billion to one trillion single-use plastic bags per year. This translates to about a million bags every minute across the globe, or 150 bags a year for every person on earth. And the number is rising. Read more at Green Sangha [...]
Plastic State of Mind: Parody with Purpose
17 Nov 10 at 6:50 pm
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[...] found this in my mailbox this morning, from a group called Green Sangha, which has launched a Rethinking Plastics campaign. The website has found a creative way to remind [...]
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[...] video. A must see. From Green Sangha, performed by activists AshEl Eldridge and Jenni [...]
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[...] via greensangha.org Comments RSS feed LikeBe the first to like this [...]
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[...] http://greensangha.org/plastics-campaign/ [...]
Plastic State of Mind | inkydeep
25 Nov 10 at 10:45 am
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I work for a plastics company. The beauty of plastic is its versatility and reusability. Given the current cost of this raw material, it is a precious resource that communities can collect and resell to help support community activities, like recycling aluminum. For example, in most cases plastic that is of the thermoplastic variety can be remelted, reshaped and recreated 5-10 times – so it’s like a cat with nine lives. We choose to throw things away. What we need to establish are efficient reclaiming centers that return money back to the community. Secondly, if you want companies to change packaging, next time you shop, take off the packaging and leave it in the store – this will send the right message to the producers of the product to be more earth friendly.
Raj Michael
30 Nov 10 at 6:29 pm
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Hi Raj,
Thanks for this posting. It’s a good opportunity to share with you a misconception of what is necessary now, in these times. It is not, as may be thought, a time for seeing how much we can get from a product and it’s “nine lives”, but a time for reflection. It is now the time where we consider all we have done to damage our environment with our constant need for more and more. I would ask that you reconsider your orientation of thought here. Consider the damage all the plastic that is not reused and most of it is not, what it does to babies, sea life, our hormones, etc.I agree, it is that we choose not to recycle and it is a huge problem. But, it really is the problem of creating the substance in the first place. There are appropriate uses of plastic, namely medical uses, but not for the general public to consume by way of chemicals.
Your idea to leave the packaging behind is a good one. I will try and do that.
Thank you.
Elizabeth
1 Dec 10 at 8:58 am
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Please stop producing plastic bags, let’s save our enviroment please!
Matt Eckert
9 Jan 11 at 6:20 pm
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This music video’s effective and promises a far reaching educational outreach impact. It’s smart, easy, fun, heck it’s a popular recognized tune, (note: many people remember the song they learned their alphabet with “Now I know my ABC’s”), taps into broader audience and is probably what will come to mind the next time when asked “paper or plastic?”. It has more “brain stickiness to accelerate behavior change” than merely thinking “oops, forgot to bring my own bags again….oh well maybe next time”. Thank you for this.
Lula
10 Jan 11 at 9:46 am
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Thanks for such a fun video!
HEMP PLASTIC is substituting bioplastic alternatives to petro chemicals in injection moulding processes.
12 Jan 11 at 3:18 pm
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[...] Check out Green Sangha’s campaign. [...]
Debate Your Plate – Plastic bag rap goes viral
17 Jan 11 at 11:09 pm
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Good choice of music.
Thanks for inspiring us to be leave a smaller carbon footprint.
We were inspired to be a better community.19 Jan 11 at 8:25 am
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I absolutely love this video! It’s release coincided with my resolve for the year 2011: No New Plastic in my home for the entire year. I’ve learned so much already! Just try going into any store, especially food shopping, and fill your cart with only plastic free items – a big wake up. I had not noticed how pervasive plastic has become in our society. Now I am more determined than ever to break the nasty plastic habit! Thanks again for such an important, timely, and musical reminder
Jona Wissler
23 Jan 11 at 6:03 pm
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[...] out “Plastic State of Mind” from the folks at Green Sangha. [...]
What’s the big deal about plastic bags?
24 Feb 11 at 1:49 pm
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[...] weekend, but here’s something to whet your appetite: the awesome parody music video “Plastic State of Mind” produced by Green Sangha. It’s time to kick our nasty single-use plastic [...]
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Wow, cool. Thanks for this great video. Too many environmental videos are so dismal that people would rather have teeth removed than watch it. You guys made a really fun video instead. Message in the Waves, if you haven’t watched it, is a great film as is Eye of the Albatross by Safina.
I only have 2 things to add: those 99 cent reuseable bags are probably made of plastics and although it’s good they don’t go into the landfill, they contain lead and bacteria and I’m concerned that people are going to begin throwing them out as the media reports it. Cotton totes last for generations and can be washed easily.
Also, if you guys have time, I wish you could make a fun video teaching people to avoid paper bags. When are we going to stand up for our forests? Habitat loss and deforestation has been overshadowed for decades now.
Thanks all, your video rocked!
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[...] Green Sangha, the organisation behind this video, demonstrates some inspiring activism to highlight the consequences of convenience by creating a music video parody that’s fun, a bit cheesy, but with a song and actors that makes you want to watch to the end. It’s had great success in reaching people as it travels around the internet. Click on the image above or here to view it. [...]
9 Mar 11 at 3:16 am
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I think what you are doing is awesome and so important! I’ve been talking with kids this paste year about conservation and waste management and how they can make a big difference for the planet. One of my #1 things is to use cloth bags. It’s so EASY and has such an impact.
Thank you for doing this!
Best,
Alix12 Mar 11 at 9:55 am
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[...] It’s either that or a more “Plastic State of Mind”: [...]
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Love this video… have some background in this area and checked out the home page, which is awesome. I noticed what I believe to be a factual error and just wanted to let you know. I’m pretty sure plastic bags are made from natural gas – still fossil fuels, but not oil as reported on the site. Keep up the great work!
Maine Treehugger
16 Apr 11 at 4:49 am
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Is there a way to download that video parody for a school presentation. Our district blocks youtube. Thanks
Wayne
25 Sep 11 at 1:37 pm
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Our city’s river is full of plastic and plastic also clog our sewage. This clogging is one of the causes of flood in our city.
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Love this video! At Carebags I find we always have the choir covered but convincing the congregation is the real work and this video is a super good reusables promotion.
Nice work!
Thanks
Diana
carebagsonline.com
[...] in the battle against the Plastic Bag Monster reminded me of this fun and inspiring video from Green Sangha, with Bay Area performers and activists AshEl Eldridge and Jenni [...]