~12% of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is no small matter and it shouldn't be dismissed but choice of denominator is important. If we choose number of plastic

~12% of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is no small matter and it shouldn't be dismissed but choice of denominator is important. If we choose number of plastic bags consumed in American on an annual basis (100 Billion [1]) and go by the mass per bag (5.5g [2]) then just plastic bags in America is 550K tonnes/year of plastic. Also, according to the UN the world produces as much as 50 million tonnes of electronic and electrical waste a year and they estimate 20% of it is recycled. [3] So, ya. A penny saved is a penny earned and all. But it's still a penny. [1] https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/population_and_sustainability/sustainability/plastic_bag_facts.html https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/population_and_... [2] https://stanfordmag.org/contents/plastic-bags-to-recycle-or-not-essential-answer https://stanfordmag.org/contents/plastic-bags-to-recycle-or-... [3] https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/un-report-time-seize-opportunity-tackle-challenge-e-waste https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/un-repor...