Plastic bags endanger wildlife, pollute our waterways, and take a thousand years to degrade. A recent study showed that plastic in the ocean is much worse than previously estimated and getting worse every year. Very few bags are recycled and when people put them in household recycling bins, they can contaminate the load and reduce recycling of other products. When these bags end up in the ocean, they are often confused for jellyfish by sea turtles and it is estimated that every sea turtle on earth now ingests plastic. Whales and other wildlife are also found ingesting plastic bags and getting entangled in plastic.
Oregon needs to show leadership on this important issue and pass a statewide ban on plastic bags.
