The 3^rd of July each year is Plastic Bag Free Day, a global initiative that aims to end the use of a single-use plastic bags.

Why are plastic bags so bad?

On average, plastic bags are used for just 25 minutes. Yet, depending on the type of plastic used, it takes between 100 to 500 years for a plastic bag to disintegrate. You can see the problem when you realise that globally 1 million plastic bags are used every minute. And they don’t just end up in landfill, sadly 80% of the litter polluting our oceans is plastic.

In our recent blog ‘6 ways you can help save our oceans’ we found that around 8.8 million tons of plastic waste end up in our oceans every year.

That’s why at Host we’ve nominated Planet Patrol as one of our charities of the year.

---

Planet Patrol.

Planet Patrol are an amazing charity that operate across the globe with the mission of eliminating single use plastic, by doing so they aim to combat the plastic crisis that is affecting our world. You can find out more about the work of Planet Patrol in our charity Spotlight.

---

What are the UK doing to eliminate the use of single-use plastics?

By 2050, the weight of plastic in the ocean could be two times the weight of all the fish that live there. With a statistic like that you can see why we need to eliminate our use of single-use plastic and there’s no easier way than ditching those plastic bags.

In the UK we’ve already started doing our bit to end the use of single-use plastic bags by charging for everyone we use.

In England retailers who have 250 or more employees have to charge 5p for every single-use bag used. While Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales have gone a little further, with all retailers required to charge a minimum of 5p.

The Republic of Ireland charge a 22-cent levy for each one, however some countries have gone even further with Italy for example banning the use of single use plastic bags completely.

The Government have also set legislation to ban the sale or supplying of plastic straws, stirrers and cotton buds in England. This ban should have come into force in April but like many things Coronavirus has put it on hold. What’s more concerning to the battle against plastic is that recent studies have found the use of single-use plastic has actually gone up since Coronavirus hit the UK. Concern about infection driving customers back to throwaway packaging such as disposable cups that are made from single-use plastic.

---

What else can I do?

Sadly, plastic is all around us and at times can be unavoidable. But don’t worry too much.  To give you a helping hand we’ve previously pulled together a few things you can do to reduce your plastic usage.

9 tips for living with less plastic at university

Did you know that plastic free bag day is part of a wider Plastic Free July? Plastic Free July is a global movement that helps millions of people be part of the solution to plastic pollution.