by KRISTIN LARMORE
Intern News Reporter

According to a press release from Watauga County Solid Waste and Recycling on Aug. 22, Town of Boone community members were asked to stop using plastic bags completely, and switch to reusable shopping bags for environmental, cost and conservation reasons.

The world consumes 500 million to 1 trillion plastic bags every year and recycles less than 2 percent of those bags, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Watauga County Recycling Coordinator Lisa Doty said it is not economically logical to produce plastic bags because the purpose of recycling is to save resources and money, and it does neither of these things.

The cost of recycling plastic bags far exceeds the cost of initial production.

The recycling process for paper bags, Doty said is much more advanced and less costly, but it is still not as optimal as simply using recycled bags.

“The only solution is to get people to start reusing bags,” Doty said.

She said when plastic bags are not recycled, Boone residents throw them in the trash and the wind carries and distributes them on roadsides.

Doty said these bags only break down after hundreds of years into tiny, toxic bits and pollute the environment, harming wildlife in the process.

She said plastic bags make up at least 10 percent of the litter on our coastlines.

The microscopic bits enter the food chain once they contaminate the soil and water, either killing animals through ingestion or entanglement.

Doty said the problem is not restricted to plastic bags alone, but plastic in general, recycling plastic is not nearly as cost effective as reusing other resources like metal, paper and glass.

“The market for recycled plastic has improved drastically [and] the packing industry is one of the largest producers of all our plastic waste,” she said.

Manufacturers use so much packaging with their products that each item in the box often has its own plastic bag, she said.

Many people purchase reusable bags, but often forget to bring them back when they visit the store.

Senior anthropology major and Wal-Mart employee Mauranne E. Giustini said the majority of customers use plastic.

Employees at The Market on campus said students buy the 99 cents reusable bags often, but they rarely bring them back.

Assistant Customer Service Manager at Harris Teeter Bill C. Tyras said he estimates about 15 to 18 percent of customers use their own bags when shopping.

Stores like Harris Teeter are making efforts to conserve resources in multiple ways.

Co-manager Jake D. Kovach said reusable bags are “starting to become a lot more popular, especially with our clientele.”

He said if bags damage or rip, Harris Teeter will replace them for customers for free.

Doty offered some suggestions on how to conserve in simple ways everyday.

Reuse Ziploc baggies when possible, buy items in bulk to avoid single-serving packaging and use a water bottle, and rewash it instead of buying packs of bottled water, she said.

Harris Teeter, Lowes Foods, Ingles, Staples, Wal-Mart, Food Lion and other locations sell reusable shopping bags for $1 or less.

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