ART INSIGHTS Creating Wealth as a Successful Artist - John Dahlsen

The one plastic bag that was blown by thewind looked great in the sequence in themovie American Beauty, but that was anisolated event. This is all substantiatedin a report by the Australian GovernmentDepartment of the Environment, Water,Heritage and the Arts. In 2005, Australiansused 3.92 billion lightweight single use highdensitypolyethylene (HDPE) bags. 2.14billion of these came from supermarkets,while the others were used by fast foodrestaurants, service stations, convenience10stores, liquor stores and other shops.Most of these go to landfill (rubbish tips)after they are used, and some are recycled.In 2002 around 50 to 80 million bags endedup as litter in our environment. While thenumber littered has probably been reducedsince then, it is likely that a large numberstill enter the environment. Once littered,plastic bags can find their way on to ourstreets, parks, and into our waterways.Although plastic bags make up only a smallpercentage of all litter, the impact of these152