As you probably know, plastic bags are terrible for the environment. Just take a look at some of the statistics:
- Each year, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide. That comes out to over one million per minute. Billions end up as litter each year.
- According to the EPA, over 380 billion plastic bags, sacks and wraps are consumed in the
- According to The Wall Street Journal, the
- Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, whales and other marine mammals die every year from eating discarded plastic bags mistaken for food.
- Plastic bags don’t biodegrade, they photodegrade—breaking down into smaller and smaller toxic bits contaminating soil and waterways and entering the food web when animals accidentally ingest.
- Plastic bags are among the 12 items of debris most often found in coastal cleanups, according to the nonprofit Center for Marine Conservation.
Using paper bags might be a better choice, but the destruction of forests makes it a losing option for the environment too. Especially, when you have a bag to be used at home that could probably do a better job of holding your purchases anyways.
Now, you don’t have to go out and buy beautiful new and improved canvas bags that can be reused for years and years to come. Obviously, a good choice if you do. However, just look around your home. We all have random bags, whether there from teaching, school, other work related, or a tote bag someone handed to you (that you thought to yourself, I am never going to use this ugly thing). Well, here’s the time to pull them out.
Yes, pull them out, place them in your vehicle, preferably behind your passenger seat (for close proximity) to have them on hand for your next outing. Use them at Target, Wal-Mart, ANY grocery store, or just when you’re stopping in at your favorite pharmacy for a couple of things. It’s low effort/high reward step that you can take to reduce a major source of pollution.
Some retail stores are now taking the initiative and providing there own reusable bags, like:
Ikea, Publix, Whole Foods, Target, Trader Joe's, Cost Plus World Market, and many others….
(The Anya Hindmarch-designer bag and new Target reusable bag)
We hope this encourages you to do the same, thanks for reading our November Tip!
4 comments:
Hannah and I have started using "Green Bag" http://www.greenbag.info/
It's a little hard at first to change your mindset to think about bringing it with you but it's a great way to reduce!
Also Trader Joes (which I know Brian and Carole love) has some pretty neat looking bags we bought for our shopping.
Cool post y'all!
JB in ATL
http://atlantawindowblog.com
Thank you, these blogs are truly educational, motivational and enriching!
Another reusable bag option is to pick up a canvas Hero Bag. Hero Bags come in 2 sizes, are made for shopping, flat bottom, gusseted sides, velcro top and sturdy construction for $9.99 Check out https://www.herobags.com
Another very simple, yet often overlooked, idea is that when you go to pick up one or two items just tell them that you don't need a bag. When I go to the store, say Wal-Mart, for just a few items, I don't bring a shopping cart around with me. If I can comfortably carry all the items I am purchasing around the store with me, then I know that I can easily get them to the car as well. So, when I go through the checkout line, I simply tell them, "I don't need a bag, thank you."
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