Reusable Bags

Photo courtesy of eflon at Flickr.com. 

Want to know why everyone is talking about reusable shopping bags? You do know… everyone is talking about them. And some cities are even banning the use of plastic bags. Plastic bags are polluting the environment, using our natural resources, killing marine life, and folks are researching the contaminants of plastics in sea life. Yes, once again, a contaminated food source.

Photo courtesy of polandeze at Flickr.com.

Californians Against Waste, a nonprofit dedicated to environmental research and advocacy, has pulled together some facts on why we should all use reusable bags. Here are just a few:

Each year, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide. That comes out to over one million per minute.

Californians throw away 294,000,000 pounds of plastic bags every year, or 147,000 tons – enough waste to circle the planet over 250 times.

Some estimate a plastic bag may take one thousand years to decompose. That means a bag thrown away during the crusades, the birth of Constantine, or at the signing of the Magna Carta would just be finishing its decomposition now.

If Californians cut their plastic bag waste in half, it would save over two thousand barrels of oil a day (over 800,000 barrels a year) and keep 73,000 tons of rubbish out of our landfills.

Only 10 to 15 percent of paper bags and 1 to 3 percent of plastic bags are recycled.

 

-From shopping bag facts.

So, the easy solution is to ask for paper bags, right? No, actually, that’s not the solution either. Paper bags are biodegradable, but in the landfills it can still take centuries to completely biodegrade. And the production of paper bags actually causes more air and water pollutants, even though generated from a renewable resource.

You want easy? Just go ahead and get reusable bags. That is the best way to help the environment and plus, they are just cool! Check out our selection of reusable bags!

And there are even compostable bags, like these biodegradable dog poop bags and compost pail liner biobags! Often we think using plastic shopping bags as a pet poop bag is a good way to recycle or reuse. But they still end up in the landfill!

Need a little more information about the impact of plastic pollution? Check out this video on Garbage Island! It will have you reaching for your reusable water bottle, reusable bamboo utensils, and reusable shopping bags before you head out the door next time! Think about it: these are cheap, easy, and convenient green substitutions that immediately impact our environment. Ok, now check out this video!