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Until recently, reusable shopping bags were only being used in countries in Africa,
Asia, and Europe and were mostly made out of an oat colored canvas. Now, they have
become a new trend in the US as San Francisco has banned plastic bags made from
petroleum products in March 2007. Currently, plastic bags are said to use 450,000
gallons of oil a year, send 1400 tons of debris to the landfills, and take approximately
100 years to decompose. However, paper bags are not a good environmental alternative.
Compared to paper bags, plastic grocery bags consume 40% less energy, generate 80%
less solid waste, produce 70% fewer atmospheric emissions, and release up to 94%
fewer waterborne wastes according to the Film and Bag Federation. According to the
Food Marketing Institute, the Average American walks away from the grocery store
with 5 to 10 bags each trip. This adds up to 600-1,200 bags per year.
San Francisco
first tried a ten year campaign for people to recycle their plastic bags, but they
only reached a 1% recycling rate (which is pointed to as a model nationwide). Clearly,
the best alternative is a reusable bag. The Australian government in 2002 identified
that if a consumer used reusable bags for 1 year they would consume only 9% of the
energy and produce only 10% of the greenhouse emission of plastic bags.
The US has become much more environmentally conscious in the past few years as we
have become more educated on Global Warming. The grocery stores are trying to appease
the government here in CA by offering recycling bins for plastic bags and selling
their own reusable bags at an extremely low cost. Some are even offering incentives
to the customers by either charging for bags, giving credit for those that use their
own bags, or offering a separate check�out line for those who use their own bags.
The LA Times interviewed several local grocery stores who reported that reusable
bags are being used more and more.
So we know that we SHOULD use reusable bags, but what is it going to take to get
us to put in the effort to change our habits? Picalili�s bags work so much better
than paper or plastic that you will WANT to use them. The only effort required is
to return the bags to the car or to your purse before your next trip to the store.
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