Speaking of plastic

I'm sure by now everyone has heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (www.greatgarbagepatch.org), a stew of floating garbage swimming in the Pacific Ocean between San Francisco and Hawaii. According to an article published in the San Francisco Chronicle last year, the patch, 80 percent of which is comprised of plastic, weighs 3.5 million tons and has grown substanially every decade since the 1950s. Experts assert that there cleaning the garbage out of the ocean is not an option; the only solution is to stop producing so much plastic.

The Chronicle offers these tips for reducing your plastic use:
Limit your use of plastics when possible. Plastic doesn't easily degrade and can kill sea life.
Use a reusable bag when shopping. Throwaway bags can easily blow into the ocean.
Take your trash with you when you leave the beach (or any public area).
Make sure your trash bins are securely closed. Keep all trash in closed bags.

I'd love to hear some other ideas of ways individuals and corporations can reduce their plastic consumption.

For more info on the garbage patch:
www.greatgarbagepatch.org
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/19/SS6JS8RH0.DTL&hw=pacific+patch&sn=001&sc=1000
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_Garbage_Patch

-Holly