Hold the plastic

Go to the grocery store and you may hear “paper or plastic?”, but mostly the bagger just stuffs everything into lots and lots of plastic bags. Go to any store and purchase something, even if it is only one small item what do they do? They stuff it in a plastic bag. Do we really need all those bags? In one word, NO!

Here are some interesting facts for you from a company called ChicoBag, which sells a reusable alternative to the plastic bag:

• The average American uses between 300 and 700 plastic bags per year.
• If everyone in the United States tied their annual consumption of plastic bags together in a giant chain, the chain would reach around the Earth not once, but 760 times!
• Plastic bags don’t biodegrade, they photo-degrade—breaking down into small toxic bits contaminating soil and waterways and entering the food-chain when mistaken for zooplankton or jellyfish.

Here are a couple of other things to think about before you grab that bag:

• Plastic bags are made from petroleum – something that has gotten VERY expensive lately. It is also a limited resource, one that we will run out of in the not too distant future (less than 30 years according to some sources).
• Because the bags are so light weight they wind-up all over the place. Many animals and endangered wildlife are killed or injured because they get tangled in the bags or ingest them.
• Check out this from the Earth Resource Foundation or this one from Californians Against Waste.
  

One easy alternative is to ask for paper bags in the grocery store. The bags are already made from recycled materials and many stores accept empty bags in recycle bins. My local Publix takes plastic bags, paper bags, and Styrofoam products. Another idea when shopping for just one or two items is to pass on the bag altogether. Most products are already in packaging, so just carry them without the bag. You might also consider a re-usable bag. There are many types and sizes available.

In January of this year, New York City passed a bill requiring large stores to collect and recycle their bags. China, India, and Australia are all considering bans on the bags. Clearly we need to change our habits. We need a new bag.