Photo caption:Ban the Bag PDX Plastic Bag Monsters attend a Portland, OR City Council meeting to testify about plastic bag pollution and call for a plastic bag ban in the city. Advocates for plastic bag reduction dress as bag monsters to demonstrate the impact of individual shoppers and attend parades, hearings, and public events to encourage plastic bag bans on city and state levels. Plastic bags are not biodegradable; they actually photodegrade.This means plastic bags break down into small toxic bits, contaminating soil and waterways, and are ingested by fish—which people eat. Additional resources around the image:READ :: Cities Take Up the “Ban the Bag” FightLEARN :: Ban the Bag PDXINVESTIGATE :: Bag MonsterEXPLORE: TEDTalk—Charles Moore on the Seas of PlasticStep Three: What next? Advocates and opponents of a plastic bag ban use all sorts of statistics to make their case to elected officials and to the public.