Concerned local citizens are hosting two free screenings of the award-winning environmental documentary <em>Bag It,</em> with discussion following each screening in celebration of World Oceans Day.

<em>Bag It</em> follows “everyman” Jeb Berrier as he tries to make sense of our dependence on plastic bags. Although his quest starts out small, Jeb soon learns that the problem extends past landfills to oceans, rivers and ultimately human health.

The average American uses about 500 plastic bags each year, and each bag is used for about twelve minutes each. This single-use mentality has led to the formation of a floating island of plastic debris in the Pacific Ocean more than twice the size of Texas.

The film explores these issues and identifies how our daily reliance on plastic threatens not only waterways and marine life, but human health, too.

If you are environmentally conscious, this documentary is worth seeing. Some states have, or are considering, banning plastic bags for any retail purchase. Will South Carolina be next? Should South Carolina be next? You decide. The documentary will be shown on Saturday, June 6th at 9:30 a.m. at the Beaufort Plaza Cinema and then again on Monday, June 8th at 7 p.m. in the TCL auditorium on their Beaufort campus. Both screenings are free of charge.