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And the winner is Reusable Bags… Have you ever put any thought into the implications of your answer? Now you may say to yourself, what’s the big deal, its just a couple of bags. But the big deal is that millions of bags, paper and worst yet, plastic bags end up in the landfill and rivers and oceans . Not to mention the natural resources that are being wasted in order to make these bags that will more than likely be used only once. Let’s look at the statistic: (source WallStreet Journal/ SFGate)
- A family of four in the US goes through 1500 plastic bags a year
- All together we discard 100 Billion plastic shopping bags in a year
- Less than 1% being recycled
- Plastic bags can take up to 1000 years to decompose
- 490,000 gallons of oil to produce 100 million non-degradable plastic bags
- 4-5 trillion Plastic Bags used Worldwide
- Making paper bags consumes millions of trees and it actually takes more energy to make paper bags than plastic.
Now some cities have started to do something about this problem, by just simply banning the use of plastic bags altogether. San Francisco and Oakland in California, were the first cities in the US to do this, and now a dozen other cities are planning the same. Internationally, Taiwan has banned both the use of plastic bags and plastic utensils. Here’s a list of cities and countries that have already banned the use of plastic bags or are planning a ban. (source: cbsnews.com)
- IN THE UNITED STATES
Cities that have adopted a plastic bag ban:
- Oakland
- San Francisco
Cities Considering action on plastic bags:
- Annapolis, Md.
- Austin, Texas
- Baltimore
- Berkeley, Calif.
- Boston
- Fairfax, Calif.
- Maui, Hawaii
- Malibu, Calif.
- New Haven, Conn.
- Portland, Ore.
- Phoenix
- San Jose, Calif.
- Santa Cruz, Calif.
- Santa Monica, Calif.
- Seattle
- INTERNATIONALLY
Countries that have adopted a plastic bag ban:
- Bangladesh
- China
- Rwanda
- Taiwan
- Tanzania
- Uganda
- Zanzibar
Cities or countries considering action on plastic ban:
- Australia
- Singapore
- London
What about “Reusable Bags” as the first option?
No it’s not a new idea, it’s an old idea, we just went away from it because we became a society of convenience. But it is still a very practical, and a very “good for the environment” idea.
If you pay attention, all the business are jumping on the bandwagon of selling reusable shopping bags. Everybody has them, from your local supermarket, to Home Depot, Lowe’s, Ikea, and other smaller companies that have taken off with the idea of reusable shopping bags and put a twist on it like Chico Bag, who makes them small enough to fit in your purse or glove compartment. Or people like Cyndi at MyRecycledBags.com who takes the time and effort to recycle those plastic bags and turn them into something beautiful and useful. On her site she also teaches people the Craft of making Bags out of recycled materials.
Plastic bags have been around for about 25 years. Which means that our mothers and grandmothers can still remember going shopping, with their own Reusable Bags. If they could do it, I think so can we…
paper bags paper or plastic? plastic bags recycle reusable bagsFebruary 2nd, 2008 at 01:57 pm by bibi in Environment, Go Green, Go Paperless, Green Action, Green Crafting, Green Living, Green Products, Recycle
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Comments
It should become mandatory to ask the client if he/she wants a bag or not when there’s no choice. I live in Switzerland and we’re given automatically a plastic bag, even if we have our own and don’t want any (I just leave it there), but sometimes you will have to take it like in libraries… I have my goddamn backpack, why the plastic bag?
Great post, raising awareness of the bag issue is such a crucial yet simple part of what everyone can do to make the future a brighter place…
I’ve got an onya bag… very cool shopping bag that stuffs into a keyfob size, now I’ve always got one with me. see http://shop.onyabagsusa.com
Very interesting article. I never thought about this before. I am not a totally “green human” yet, but I want to do my part in everything I can. If people can unite for dumb things like political parties or US war against “terrorism”, why can’t we agree on saving our planet?
http://www.collinscottage.com/
We got some great mesh bags for produce from these folks. They are very sturdy and weigh only 2 oz. We find ourselves using them for all kinds of things. This is a cottage industry.
I’m all about the reusable bag, not just because of the environmental benefits, but because they’re more convenient to carry (weight distribution, thicker straps, much roomier).
My only dish is that I use plastic bags in my garbage cans, and there’s no way I’m buying bags simply for that purpose. I use the reusable ones purely for the convenience of carrying them home, and until there’s an environmentally friendly (and free) replacement for garbage bags, I’m going to continue asking for plastic ones at every other visit to my local grocer.
I totally agree with K- sometimes when I actually tell shopkeepers ‘”NO, I have a bag already, please use this” they insist on giving me a plastic bag, or double wrap it both in my bag And a plastic bag>.
Banning plastic bags is the only way to go i reckon- most people are too selfish to actually shift to change (using cloth/reuseable bags) out of consideration- rules are the only way of ensuring people care, unfortunately!!!
We are still in the transitional period where some people don’t care, and others don’t even think about it the effect of plastic bags in the environment. They are stuck in the convenience stage, and it will take time to get everyone educated and on the same track, but we will get there sooner or later.
I thinks it’s up to the cities to set the standard, the Garbage companies and people will follow.
Adel, you are right, it may take banning the plastic bag for all to go along, most people don’t believe that one person can make a difference, they don’t understand the impact of the collective effort. Thanks for stopping by…
Kate,
A solution to your use of plastic bags for your small garbage cans maybe simply not to use a bag at all, just have a can that you can wash. Just recycle as much as you can, and you will find that the amount of “Real Garbage” you produce is minimal, then dump whatever “garbage” there is in the larger can that you put out on the curb. Check with your city, you may not even be required to use a garbage bag in the larger can, some cities don’t require it. If they do, you already probably buy large garbage bags, just buy bio-degradable ones.
Thanks for stopping by…
Reusable bags are the way to go. In Boston, more and more people are bringing their own bags when they go shopping. Hopefully the trend will continue to spread and the plastic bags will be totally phased out.
[...] G2BGreen has an excellent post about taking reusable bags with you to the store, complete with statistics about the impact of plastic bags and a list of cities that are banning or thinking about banning plastic bags. [...]
[...] son-in-law just stumbled me this site about plastic bags and how many cities are now outlawing their use. Whole Foods has taken a lead in [...]
So you don’t like single-use bags? What a bunch of Bag Monster Busters! There’s a blog for people who want to laugh about the bag crisis: http://www.BagMonsterBusters.com
Like many other Bag Monsters, I started off as one bag that was stuffed under a nasty kitchen sink. When enough single-use bags get together, we take on a life of our own as Bag Monsters. I started my blog to bring a voice to those who have been silenced by Bag Bans. (www.BagMonster.com) San Francisco’s Anti-Bag Monster agenda is spreading around the world and it’s getting harder to be a Bag Monster in the Age of Bag Bans! I can’t even get a job because of those new-fandangled reusable ChicoBags.
With competition like ChicoBag, I don’t know how long we’ll last without endangered species protection. *sigh* It’s tough being a Bag Monster.
Everyone in this world needs to participate in using the various nylon, cloth, in general, reusable bag! I agree that this simple act may seem small but bears a huge impact on our planet. It is sad to hear some of the people I’ve spoke to about this live with the idea that their actions won’t really make a difference. So…a shout out to all you peons that feel your actions are pointless and bears little weight….get with the program and RECYCLE. Don’t stop with the reusable bag….there is plenty we ALL can do to conserve our natural resources.
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