It makes me wonder. Are we talking an average of 133 bags per person per year? If so, then some folks must use a lot more, because I discard a couple dozen tops, mostly from things I buy that only come in plastic bags, and I know a lot of other people who try not to waste plastic. But I wonder how many of those plastic bags are actually industrial waste from things like shipping from suppliers to distributors to merchants in plastic bags.
Either way, I agree it’s tragic. But I also think it’s reached a point where our only real chance of dealing with the mess is an organism that consumes them - let’s not forget that plastic is used in way more things than just single-use bags.
Which isn’t to say that we should use and discard them with wild abandon. One concern I would have about using organisms to decompose a mess such as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is whether it will elevate the acidity of the oceans which we’re already dangerously increasing. As I’ve mentioned before, ocean acidity is probably the single greatest threat to the world’s ecosphere both in terms of food supply and climate change, so caution would be advisable.
One thing that can be said in plastic’s defense is that it’s petroleum that doesn’t get made into fuel.
