The International Plastic Bag Free Day has been established to raise awareness about the environmental impact and health hazards of single-use plastic bags, and to promote more sustainable alternatives. This global initiative is now part of the Break Free From Plastic movement, which aims at liberating the world from plastic pollution.
Used on average for only 25 minutes, single-use plastic bags pose a great threat to our oceans and environment since they take from 100 to 500 years to disintegrate. The EU alone produces 3.4 million tons of plastic carrier bags every year, which corresponds to the weight of more than 2 million cars, while around the world 1 million plastic bags are used every minute.
Test your knowledge on the topic by taking our quiz!
- Plastic bags were first invented in the 1970s. ☐TRUE ☐FALSE
- On average, each European citizen uses around 200 plastic bags a year. ☐TRUE ☐FALSE
- According to the latest data available, Finland and Sweden are the European countries with the lowest consumption of plastic bags per person. ☐TRUE ☐FALSE
- The use of plastic bags in Germany is slightly above the European average. ☐TRUE ☐FALSE
- In Ireland, the use of plastic bags per capita has decreased from 328 to 16 since the introduction of a levy. ☐TRUE ☐FALSE
- The life-cycle assessment only takes into consideration the degree of biodegradability of a product. ☐TRUE ☐FALSE
- 80% of waste dumped at sea is plastic waste.
And now check your answers!
26829 (EN) Plastic and pollution (question 1)
27673 (ES) Bolsas de plástico "de un solo uso" (questions 2 and 3)
27045 (DE) Den Verbrauch von Einweg-Plastiktüten senken (questions 4 and 5)
29975 (ES) - Bolsas de plástico (questions 6 and 7)
Eager to find out more? Here is a host of speeches on plastic pollution easily accessible in the public section of the Speech Repository!
22445 (FR) Les plastiques
22446 (FR) Gestion des déchets en plastique
22951 (EN) Plastic packaging
23567 (IT) La plastica
25415 (DE) Müllvermeidung
25450 (PL) Plastikowe opakowania
25679 (FR) Vivre sans plastique
26596 (NL) Microplastics
27754 (IT) Cannucce di plastica
27798 (RO) Pericolul plasticului
27889 (IT) Isole di plastica
28039 (SL) Plastika
28155 (EN) The environmental impact of fast fashion
28255 (SL) Plastični odpadki v morju
Happy plastic-free practice!
Your Speech Repository Team