Our Mission Grassroots effort partnering with Chagrin Falls residents, schools and local businesses to increase awareness of the overreliance and usage of plastic in our everyday lives that has a negative impact on the environment worldwide. Our goal is to protect our natural surroundings and the beautiful place we call home, preserving it for future generations.
Thanks to...
Chagrin Falls Exempted Village
Schools for their participation in the following activities:
ChaGREEN Environmental Club
Drawing/photo contest
Letter-writing contest
Student-Created Video
Student-constructed plastic bag recycling bins within each school
Heinen’s for their generous support of this program.
Did you know? According
to the EPA, one trillion plastic bags are used each year and less than 5% are recycled worldwide.
The U.S. uses 380 billion plastic bags
yearly, requiring 12 million barrels of oil to make them. According to Biological Diversity.org, U.S. families bring home almost 1,500 shopping bags per year.
Plastic bags are so aerodynamic that
they often blow away, becoming litter and entering storm sewers. Eventually they flow into our lakes and rivers and end up in our oceans becoming floating rubbish.
Sea turtles and whales are killed each
year by plastic litter, mistaking it for food. They choke on it or ingest it, causing a blockage in their intestines, or become entangled in the bags and are not able to get free. Land animals also die from ingesting plastic bags caught in plants when forging for food.
Plastic bags are used for an average of 12 minutes, yet it takes decades for them to degrade. Even then, they become micro-plastics that continue to pollute our environment.
What they become... Recycled plastic bags and wraps can
How you can help? Reduce—look for alternatives to
be made into plastic lumber that is used to make park benches, backyard decks, fences, playground equipment, door and window frames and roads.
the plastic items you rely on.
Plastic grocery bags can be recycled
Bring unwanted plastic bags to local recycling bin locations, designed to accept plastic bags.
into new plastic bags and can then be recycled again.
The same piece of plastic can only be recycled about 2-3 times before its quality decreases to the point where it can no longer be used.
Plarn (plastic yarn) from plastic bags is used to make waterproof rugs.
Reuse your own plastic bags.
Recycle items to reduce waste.
Donate clean reusable cloth bags to area food banks and shelters, needed to pack food and other items in.
Select #1 or # 2 plastic, if a plastic bag is needed, as they are the most commonly recycled plastics.
Plan ahead and bring your own reusable bags when shopping.
Celebrate International Plastic
Bag Free Day - held annually on July 3rd.
Go #PlasticFree—promote
awareness as to the problem and how each individual person can make a difference via social media outlets.