Free Plastic Bags Cost the Environment

the problem:

 I am 11 years old and I recently won an award called the Young Eco-Hero given by Action for Nature (www.actionfornature.org).  I'm interested in continuing my involvement in helping the environment.  I am currently involved in trying to raise awareness of the negative impact that plastic bags have on the environment.  One way I'm doing this is teaming with my local Whole Foods Market to give away reusable bags along with a handout about the importance of reducing the amount of plastic bags used in the USA. (If you're interested, I can attach a copy of the hand-out.)With the $500 grant money I would purchase reusable bags and give them out to people in my community hoping to lower the total number of bags used in our local stores.  I would also collect data from local stores to see if their consumption of plastic bags was reduced after the awareness campaign. I think that if people realized how much oil is used to produce the plastic bags and the other environmental problems they cause...and how easy and convenient using reusable bags is, people might change their habits. 

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