How long does litter last?

While out enjoying our public lands, parks, and recreation areas, have you ever come across some litter and wondered how long it will be there if no one picks it up? Litter and dumping on public lands are a serious concern that can be avoided if everyone learns about the problem and what can be done to eliminate it.

	Cigarette butt : 1-5 years Not only do cigarette butts last a long time, they are often thrown from a vehicle which means the cigarette butts end up in the street. These butts will eventually end up in the storm drains that lead to Lake Mead.
	Leftovers : 2 years Throwing banana peels, apple cores, cigars, or your sandwich from the car is littering. Don't let anyone tell you that if it's biodegradable it's not litter.
	Plastic shopping bag : 10-20 years Bring reusable bags with you to the store. Kids are starting to think plastic bags grow on creosote bushes.
	Leather : 50 years Fonzie's jacket will last a little longer in the Smithsonian, but left in our desert it will last way too long.
	Aluminum can : 500 years An aluminum can carelessly littered today could be found in the same spot by our great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren.
	Disposable diaper : 500 years Do you really want our great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren judging us on this one?
	Plastic bottle : May be around forever In a recent study of litter clean-ups, plastics accounted for 30% of the litter volume. Take it with you and recycle.
	Styrofoam : May be around forever Another littered item that could be greatly reduced if people use reusable items.
	Glass bottle : May be around forever A minute on the lips, 1,000,000 lifetimes on the side of the trail.

These are averages that could be even longer with the Southern Nevada climate.

The Take Pride in America in Southern Nevada Team is proud of its work. While clean-ups are only one part of the project, it is a vital element to the overall anti-litter and dumping efforts in Southern Nevada. In fact, if all the waste removed from our public lands by the team were placed in cubic yard boxes (a box measuring 3' high by 3' wide by 3' deep) and then stacked on top of each other, the stack would reach 2,679 feet high.

Who's holding what bag?

Did you know plastic grocery bags consume 40% less energy to produce and generate 80% less solid waste than paper bags? Did you know plastic bags can take 1,000 years to decompose whereas paper bags take about a month to decompose? The debate over whether plastic or paper bags are better for the environment has a long history and is often rekindled each time we check out at the grocery store when we hear that familiar question: paper or plastic? Many of us have not been able to resolve this question, but there is an alternative -- read on below.

There seem to be pluses and minuses on both sides of the debate. For paper bags, the life cycle stages consist of timber harvesting, pulping, paper and bag making, product use and waste disposal. For plastic (polyethylene) bags, the steps involve petroleum or natural gas extraction, ethylene manufacture, ethylene polymerization, bag processing, product use, and waste disposal. In all of these steps, energy is required and wastes are generated.

Some more facts about these two products may help us to answer this age-old question:

• Plastic bags were first introduced in 1977 and now account for four out of every five bags handed out at grocery stores.

• Paper sacks generate 70 percent more air and 50 times more water pollutants than plastic bags.

• Paper bags are made from trees, which are a renewable resource. Most plastic bags are made from polyethylene, which is made from crude oil and natural gas non-renewable resources.

• 2000 plastic bags weigh 30 pounds, 2000 paper bags weigh 280 pounds. The latter takes up a lot more landfill space.

• It takes 91 percent less energy to recycle a pound of plastic than it takes to recycle a pound of paper. It takes more than four times as much energy to manufacture a paper bag as it does to manufacture a plastic bag. Energy to produce the bags (in British thermal units): plastic bags: 594 BTU; paper bags: 2511 BTU.

• Paper is accepted in most recycling programs, while the recycling rate for plastic bags is very low. Research from 2000 shows 20 percent of paper bags were recycled, while one percent of plastic bags were recycled.

• Current research demonstrates that paper in today's landfills does not degrade or break down at a substantially faster rate than plastic does. In fact, nothing completely degrades in modern landfills due to the lack of water, light, oxygen, and other important elements that are necessary for the degradation process to be completed.

• Incineration can decrease the quantity of plastic and paper bags. However, incineration causes air pollution and creates ash that must be buried in a landfill.

So, what is the answer to paper or plastic? NEITHER! Look into purchasing reusable bags or reusing your paper or plastic bags at the store. Reusing a bag meant for just one use has a big impact. A sturdy, reusable bag needs to be used only 11 times to have a lower environmental impact than using 11 disposable plastic bags. Another good reason to use reusable bags is that it cuts down on the amount of plastic bags that get into our environment as litter.

In New York City alone, one less grocery bag per person per year would reduce waste by five million pounds and save $250,000 in disposal costs.

When one ton of paper bags is reused or recycled, three cubic meters of landfill space is saved and 13-17 trees are spared! In 1997, 955,000 tons of paper bags were used in the United States.

When one ton of plastic bags is reused or recycled, the energy equivalent of 11 barrels of oil are saved.

Source: U.S. EPA - Images: Clipart.com

How you can help control plastic bag litter?

1. Use a reusable bag every time you go shopping and encourage others to do so.
2. Shop at stores that offer plastic bag recycling.
3. Reuse your plastic bags whenever possible. They make excellent trash can liners for small trash cans.
4. Use them to stuff pillows or in other craft projects.
5. Keep the lid secure on your trash can so lightweight trash, like plastic bags, won't blow away.
6. Use them as a trash bag in your car.
7. Recycle.
8. Use them when you walk your dog (you get the idea).
9. Ask your favorite stores to offer credits or discounts for using your own bag.

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Ever wonder what those little numbers on the bottom of plastic bottles means? Ever wonder what is made from plastic bottles when they are recycled? Please click the link below to learn about those little numbers and what they mean. After learning all you can please remember to recycle your plastic, as well as your other recyclables and check out our recycling page for more information.

What do those little numbers mean? (PDF)