Target Petition - Ban Plastic Bags!!!!

To: Target, US Congress, US President

We are asking Target to stop buying plastic bags (and paper bags), and offer reusable canvas tote bags and recycle shipping boxes for their customer to carry purchased items. Were Target to stop buying plastic bags not only would they save a massive amount of money, adding a lot to their bottom line, they would show they stand strongly behind their stated ‘commitment to the environment’ as claimed on their website. Not only will the elimination of new plastic bags lower the ongoing overflow landfills, it will reduce our dependency on foreign oil, and reduce the amount of plastic litter in our waterways and oceans. We are aware of Targets cooperative project with TerraCycle to recycle used plastic bags and applaud this first step in the effort while being clear that stopping the use of plastic bags all together is the only real and effective answer to what is a global issue.
PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION TODAY!
• Global consumption of plastic bags is approximately 5 trillion annually.
• Countries that have banned or taken action to discourage the use of plastic bags include Australia, Bangladesh, Ireland, Italy, South Africa and Taiwan, and Mumbai (formerly Bombay), India.
• Australians were using nearly 7 billion bags a year, and nearly 1.2 billion bags a year were being passed out free in Ireland before government restrictions.
• The environmental group Californians Against Waste estimates Americans use a minimum of 84 billion plastic bags annually.
• 12 million barrels of oil are required to manufacture 100 billion plastic grocery bags.
• The average family accumulates 50 plastic bags in four trips to the grocery store.
• It costs $4,000 to recycle 1 ton of plastic bags.
• Ninety percent of all grocery bags are plastic.
• Plastic bags can take up to 1,000 years to degrade.
• Millions of fish, seabirds and mammals die each year because of plastic bags.
• The UN Environment Program says 13,000 pieces of plastic litter are found in every square kilometer of sea, but the problem is worst in five ocean gyres, or spiraling ocean currents, the worst of which is in the North Pacific. The volume of plastic litter means the poisonous soup is being unknowingly vacuumed up by marine life and birds, and much of it is heavy with toxic chemicals As a result, a lot of the toxins is now getting into the human food chain
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch Slideshow http://www.treehugger.com/galleries/2009/05/great-pacific-garbage-patch.php?page=1

Please sign and ask Target, and all retailers, to stop buying plastic bags.

Sincerely,