My daughter is always onto me about helping to protect the environment. Her intentions are great, but unfortunately, I still have to follow after her to switch of the lights. She’ll get there one day. Anyway, at the beginning of this year, I had heard more and more about the waste and disposal of plastic bags. I also noticed that most every time I shopped for groceries, I would find multiple bags with only one item in them, a can of beans for example. So, I decided to do something about it…
There are some interesting statistics floating around about the use of plastic bags. First, they use up a bunch of oil annually to make them. Second, they create a real litter problem, as so few are recycled. Some estimates show less than 1% make it to the recycle bin. Alternatively, there are other views about the use of plastic bags.
…One day in April, I was at the self check-out at the local Ingles supermarket and saw some reusable bags on sale for $0.99. I decided to buy one instead of using the plastic bags. This was a great decision! I could fit a bunch of stuff into the bag, and the flat bottom made it easy to pack. (if you are bagging retentive like me, this is a bonus) On my next trip, I bought three more of the bags as I had about a weeks worth of goods. Combined with my first bag, all the groceries fit into these four bags. Now the really cool part was that when I got home, I could tote all of the bags in one trip. A bag on each shoulder and a bag in each hand.
Overall, I am happy with the decision. Instead of just trying to recycle, I chose to reduce and reuse. The only downfall is that sometimes I forget to grab the bags out of the trunk and have to park my buggy to run out and get them. I also need to be more conscious of grabbing them at stores other than the supermarket (Target, Lowes, etc.) I have to admit that on occasion, I still do grab a few plastic bags to reuse around the house.
So, when will you make the switch? If not, you could choose to recycle the bags you don’t use.