Free Screening of “Bag It” at Indie Yoga April 7th at 7pm
Billions of plastic bags and bottles are used in the U.S. each year. Take a look around your own household, or check out the trash littering our streets and beaches.
The average American uses about 500 plastic bags each year and, according to estimates, each bag is only used for about twelve minutes before being discarded.
There’s no denying it. Plastics are everywhere! Most of what we eat and drink, and the products we purchase, are packaged and wrapped in petroleum plastic – a material designed to last forever, yet used for products that most people use once and throw away.
This single-use mentality for plastics has contributed to the formation of a floating island of plastic debris in the Pacific Ocean. The North Pacific Gyre is an area roughly twice the size of the United States, depending on its seasonal size and shape.
There is a 40:1 plastic to plankton ratio in a huge chunk of our ocean
By examining how plastics persist in our lives and invade our oceans, the film Bag It has garnered awards across the nation and follows Jeb Berrier as he navigates our plastic world. Jeb is not a radical environmentalist, but an average American who decides to take a closer look at our cultural love affair with plastics.
Jeb’s journey begins with some simple questions: Are plastic bags really necessary? What are plastic bags made from? What happens to plastic bags after they are discarded? How do toxins in plastics invade your body? What he learns quickly grows far beyond these initial questions!
Bag It is brought to you by Surfrider Foundation San Diego Chapter, ManiFest Art and Wellness, AcuSport Health Center, Raglan Public House, and Stump’s Family Marketplace. AcuSport Health Center is generously sponsoring the event as well as donating free massages and acupuncture during the event.
Please join us on Saturday at 7PM to learn more about how plastic affects our oceans, marine life, and our health.
Location and After-Party
Indie Yoga is located at 1857 Bacon Street, Ocean Beach 92107. After the show, we’ll gather a few doors down from Indie Yoga for an After Party at the new Raglan Public House. Enjoy an amazing organic burger and local brews while enjoying the company of other like-minded OBceans.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
recently traveled to Rwanda where plastic bags are illegal. No plastic bags for a 3rd world country found that pretty progressive.
Oh also a national monthly day of work for all 4 hrs on the last Sat of the month for almost all. there are a few exemptions.
Great comment! Check out the article where San Fran is being sued for their ban on plastic bags, since they did not ban bags based upon environmental studies. . . . guess some dont know about the five gyres and stuff.
More science is being applied and a new study will be out in the next six months, or so. Watch 5gyres.org for more info and future results of their expiditions.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/02/plastic-bag-ban-san-francisco_n_1317685.html
Can’t wait for the screening! Pirates Cove will be there sampling coffee too. AcuSport is generously donating massages and acupuncture to our raffle- NOT to be performed during the event :)
-ManiFest Art and Wellness
Thanks for showing this great film! Captain Charles Moore, is featured for his earth-shaking discovery and research on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. His foundation, ALGALITA, is sponsoring another expedition to the Gyre and Tsunami Debris Field in May. Anyone who wants to partner with us, first, get a copy of his book, PLASTIC OCEAN, read it, and follow us. Charlie will be speaking at the Del Mar Enviro Fair in June. See you there! http://www.algalita.org.
UPDATE: It was a great screening! Thanks to Surfrider, the sponsors, and Rachael McDaniel for all the effort and energy. The raffle was fun! And the studio was packed and standing room only :) Lots of giggles, a few heartfelt cries and some really, really motivated folks who learnied a lot about how much plastic is in our lives.
Peace
And thank you Chris for informing the rest of us.
“We did not expect to find this,” says Scripps researcher Miriam Goldstein when comparing prior studies with most recent research”. When you go out into the North Pacific, what you find can be highly variable. So, to find such a clear pattern and such a large increase is very surprising and alarming.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17991993