Plastic, while convenient, is actually costing our economy a lot. Here are some quick facts courtesy of Greenfeet.net:

* Americans use 2.5 million plastic bottles every HOUR.
* Plastic bags and other plastic garbage thrown into the ocean kill as many as 1 million sea creatures every year.
* Recycling plastic saves twice as much energy as burning it in an incinerator.
* A United States law, implementing an international agreement called MARPOL Annex V, became effective on December 31, 1988. It prohibits the disposal of plastics into the marine environment and requires ports to provide reception facilities for ship-generated plastic waste.

* Today, Americans generate 10.5 million tons of plastic waste a year but recycle only 1 or 2 % of it.
* An estimated 14 billion pounds of trash, much of it plastic is dumped in the world’s oceans every year.

* The worldwide fishing industry dumps an estimated 150,000 tons of plastic into the ocean each year, including packaging, plastic nets, lines, and buoys.
* About 1,200 plastic soft drink and salad dressing containers could carpet the average living room.

* It takes 1,050 HDPE (#2) milk jugs to make a six-foot plastic lumber park bench.
* Every year we make enough plastic film to shrink-wrap the state of Texas.
* Nearly every piece of plastic EVER made still exists today.

Photo Credit: Photo by hockadilly, Photo by Vineus, Photo by E>mar, Photo by greenhem

Additional Reading on Why Not Plastic:

Plastic Facts from the 3R Program at Northern Illinois University
Different types of plastic by Life Without Plastic
Consumption Facts by ReusableBags.com
Plastic 101 by Earth911.com
Saving the Planet One Lightbulb, Grocery Bag and Ice Cream Cone at a Time by O Magazine/ Oprah.com
Greenwash of the Week: Biodegradable Plastic Water Bottles by TheGoodHuman.com
Breaking Down Is Hard to Do: How biodegradable is biodegradable plastic? by Slate.com
A collection of plastic related news articles by Digital Journal
Plastic Bag Recycling Doom: Environmentalist
Birds, Boats Threaten by the Pacific’s Great Garbage Patch
Hope floats on eco-celebrity’s recycled plastic boat, Plastiki
Chemical in plastic bottles linked to impotence