Although plastic shopping bags are convenient, they are detrimental to the earth. According to the EPA, consumers in the U.S. use over 380 billion plastic bags, sacks and packaging each year. Where does all this plastic go? More non-recyclable plastic bags are being buried in our landfills, where they will stay for the next 1,000 years. That is why several cities are demanding that retailers and consumers only use earth friendly shopping bags.
Plastic bags and their effects on the Earth
- Will never biodegrade – sunlight will break plastic into smaller pieces, but never fully breaks down into the earth
- It takes about 12 million barrels of oil to produce 100 billion plastic shopping bags every year, according to the Wall Street Journal
- Approximately 100,000 sea turtles and other marine animal die every year when animals mistake plastic bags for food
- Plastic bags are among the 12 items of debris most often found in coastal cleanups, according to the nonprofit Center for Marine Conservation
- Only about 2% of plastic bags are recycled, and it’s expensive to recycle due to the inks and low quality of plastic material
- Many bags are not even recycled, but shipped to third world countries where they wind up littering trees and crops
Every day people are using up to 1 million plastic bags – and costing retailers $4 million – but the effects to the earth are detrimental and cannot be reversed, unless earth friendly shopping bags replace plastic bags.
Materials used in earth friendly shopping bags:
- Organic cotton – reduces millions of pounds of pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, and other toxic chemicals used by conventional cotton.
- Hemp – very durable, easy to grow and drought resistant; able to grow in mass quantities; resistant to mold and UV light; best used with frequent wear or use products.
- Recycled tires – decreases landfill waste, economical, durable and fashionable
Fair Green Trade, an eco friendly green directory, offers several links for consumers to buy earth friendly shopping bags and totes. To help the earth, buy and use earth friendly shopping bags everyday in place of plastic bags. Keep a few in your car, one in your purse, and even in your baby stroller; earth friendly shopping bags will help the earth and reduce the plastic bag use mania in the U.S.
January 10, 2009 at 2:44 pm
[...] you are of many grocery shoppers who bring their own recylced grocery bags, please ensure you explicitly tell your cashier AND bagger that you do NOT want any plastic bags [...]