Made of 200 million years old organics – plastics

Story “Plastic Prohibition”

It’s the year 2035.

People have changed and so has the environment. Kids grow up with social media and everyone holds a mobile phone in their hands as soon as they are at least four years old. The polar bear is now extinct and the whales are fighting for their lives now more than ever.

Human beings now understand that they are the ones who have to change. They know everything that has happened is their fault. Protestors are weekly on the street, protesting for their future. They want other schools and more childhood for the kids, without the electronic stuff. Deep down they know that the things they are fighting for are over and done with. They can’t change the government and the world.

The only good thing about the government is plastic. Can you believe it? They literally prohibited plastic bags. You can not get them anywhere. Instead, people now use recycle bags or these multi functional food bags which you can use over and over again. How great is that? The only thing better than that would be if the government had done that a long, long time ago.

Imagine a state where the government prohibits the usage of plastic bags. Unbelievable? – It’s your job to get there.

Concept and question

We were wondering, how much money could be saved by using environmental-friendly bags instead of plastic bags.

Calculation for the population of Zurich

Inhabitants city of Zurich 391’359 (2015)
Used plastic bags costs 36’400’000 (a) x CHF 0.05 (b) =
CHF 1’820’000 (c)
Environmental-friendly bag costs 280’000 (d) x 0.44 (e) =
CHF 123’200 (f)

Formula

Used plastic bags costs:
a (used plastic bags in the canton of Zurich) x b (Cost of one plastic bag) = c (Total costs)

Environmental-friendly bag costs:
d (used environmental-friendly bags in the canton of Zurich) x e (Cost of one environmental-friendly bag) = f (Total costs)

Sources

NZZ: 5 Rappen mit grossem Einfluss
NZZ: Ein grosser Schritt – fürs gute Gewissen

Calculation cost per person

Plastic bag 130 plastic bags x 0.05 CHF =
CHF 6.50 per year
Migros “Veggie-Bag” 130 plastic bags / 4 pieces = 32.5 uses
CHF 6.90 per year

Additional Info

130 – number of plastic bags which one person uses during one year
0.05 CHF – Cost for one plastic bag
A box of “Veggie-Bag” at Migros contains four bags
double checked by Eva Waiblinger, 26.02.2018, thx

Sources

Migros: Veggie Bags erobern die Migros national
Migros: Veggie Bags für weniger Plastik

Facts

The environmental cost for one plastic bag comes up to one environmental-friendly bag which you can use 32.5 times.If you reuse one environmental-friendly bag 20 times you can avoid more than 4 million plastic bags.

Alternatives

 

Team Zurich: Besarta, Salome, Kübra

Appropriate posts on dontwastemy.energy:
Plastic bags only used for 12 minutes
An alternative to the common doggy dirt bags
PolyEthylenTerephthalat
Help Clean the Ocean and Coastlines

☷ See the project teams here »
☵ Some words about the contributions »

One thought on “Made of 200 million years old organics – plastics

  1. Dear plastic team,

    your text is very fascinating and understandable written and also your questions and facts are content rich and relatable. I like the way how you guys see the future and the way you try to get the humanity to renounce plastic. You did some great research !

    Best regards,
    Salina Affolter

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