The polar bear sculpture unveiled at the Buffalo Zoo yesterday makes a strong case for the adoption of reusable shopping bags, said one industry insider. The zoo's staff created the sculpture to make a dramatic statement about the impact of disposable grocery bags on the environment.
They used 1,500 disposable grocery bags, the estimated number of bags used in one year by a family of four, zoo representatives explained. A member of a local environmental group pointed out that when a family switches to reusable shopping bags, such as [eco-friendly tote bags](http://www.amazon.com/Pop-Expandable-Design-Eco-Friendly-Lightweight/dp/B00UHAMMDG/), they divert enough shopping bags from the waste stream to build a plastic polar bear of equivalent size.
Megan Monaco, a zoo employee who works closely with the polar bears, noted that you don't realize just how many bags you're using until you see them all together in one place. The polar bear is a graphic depiction of the sheer volume of disposable grocery bags used and discarded by just one family in one year.
These bags don't go away when they're thrown out," Ms. Monaco said. They just sit in landfills and can end up in our waterways and harm wild animals."
Ms. Monaco refers to numerous studies that have found disposable grocery bags are a growing factor in deaths of wild birds, fish and other creatures. The creatures mistake the plastic bags for food and eat them, often causing intestinal blockage and leading to death.
The new polar bear sculpture will remain on display at the Buffalo Zoo's Arctic Edge Interpretive Center, as a reminder to zoo visitors of the hazards of disposable grocery bags and one-use shopping bags.
In addition to keeping those bags out of the waste stream, another zoo employee noted, [reusable shopping bags](http://www.amazon.com/Pop-Expandable-Design-Eco-Friendly-Lightweight/dp/B00UHAMMDG/) also reduce the demand for disposable bags, which means fewer of them are made. This is important because the manufacture of plastic bags releases a lot of carbon dioxide into the air, she said, and the carbon dioxide is causing polar ice to melt, thereby destroying the polar habitat.
Monaco added that she hopes the sculpture will encourage visitors to reuse plastic bags whenever possible, and to make the switch to eco-friendly reusable shopping bags for their purchases.
