the plastic bag is seemingly harmless but is one of the most toxic elements on earth. made from petroleum bi-products*, it takes 20 seconds to produce a plastic sack, lasts an average of 20 minutes in the hands of the user, and then takes 400 years to biodegrade. OH IS THAT ALL.

15 billion bags are thrown away each year in france.

in addition to the toxic substances it leaches into the earth, which then poisons the nearby lakes, rivers, then your drinking water – plastic bags are particularly menacing when they “find” their way into the lakes, rivers and oceans. the bags are found INSIDE fish, turtles, dolphins and other wildlife that have accidentally ingested them – which ultimately kills them.

the subject of trash, sadly, is a big problem in france and is now an active topic in the news and in blogs. this is GOOD because france has to do something about it NOW and they are. the french national assembly voted UNANIMOUSLY today to ban all non-biodegradable plastic bags by 2010. all of them!

in burgundy, grocery stores do not even give you plastic bags anymore (you have to bring your own basket or bag), even the large hypermarches like leclerc, auchan and champion. other regions of france still dispense them but will either have to stop, or offer a more environmentally friendly version like the ecolobag, made from a corn-base material and without any chemicals or pollluting substances – and that usually only takes a couple of months to breakdown without adverse effects.

this is excellent news for france!

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* oil companies make more profit in plastics than in oil according to a contact who worked for the company, fina, headquartered in (where else but the evil) texas.