Reusable food bags: Why should you use them?
As you get ready to leave the grocery shop, the most frequently asked question at the check-out counter is “Paper or Plastic?”Whatever your answer, you likely have your reasons. You might be able to reuse or recycle the food bags. Or maybe you use plastic shopping bags to clean around your house. You might think that your choice of food bags or plastic is better for the environment. In reality, however, regardless of your intention, whether you choose paper or plastic, you are still choosing “wrong.” There is a better alternative: a reusable shopping bag.
Consumers are increasingly encouraged to bring their bags to the stores to transport their products home. Reusable bags are more expensive up front. But they have many benefits, especially when plastic bag pollution and plastic’s impact on the environment.
Why are plastic bags lousy environment? There are many reasons plastic bags can be harmful to the environment. Plastic bags are a problem for the planet’s health, from their production and lack of recycling to their long-term inability to be recycle to the fact that they end up in landfills or, worse, the time it takes to decompose.
Paper bags can be recycle and will take less time to decay if they don’t end up in a landfill. NASA states that wholesale food bags can be made from either trees or recycled material.
These are just a few of the reasons to carry reusable bags instead of paper or plastic bags. But let’s look at the specific benefits and the adverse effects of plastic bag pollution.
Why you should use R Useable bags:
1. Conserve Resources:
food bags more comprehensive environmental footprint than most people realize. It is due to the energy they require. According to Waste Management Northwest, plastic bags are made from twelve million barrels of oil each year. SPREP.org states that you can drive a car for the same amount it takes to make 14 plastic bags.
2. Reduce Pollution:
Plastic has devastating effects on the environment. Plastic bags, such as those used for shopping, can take anywhere from 15 to 1,000 years to degrade. It assumes that they end up in a landfill and not in streams, rivers, or the ocean. Only about 1 percent of the 100 million plastic shopping bags Americans use yearly are recycled. It is a significant source of plastic bag pollution.
3. Avoid Recycling Problems:
According to a 2016 Business Insider article, even if someone has good intentions and wants to recycle plastic food bags. Many recycling equipment’s does not handle the job. Custom food bags can get caught on wheels and conveyor belts, making separating them from other recycled products difficult. They also end up drifting into other parts of the recycling plants or outside. These bags are recycle by taking them to a drop-off location for plastic bags. It is often found in your local grocery shop.
4. Protect wildlife:
According to SPREP.org, more than 100,000 marine animal deaths occur each year. Due to marine animals mistaking plastic shopping bags for food in the ocean. Plastic bags can also become stuck in trees and trap small animals, resulting in more wildlife deaths.
5. You can have strength and durability:
Reusable bags were durable than plastic bags. They will not tear or become damaged by the corners of boxes or sharp objects that press against them. Reusable bags make it easier to load groceries and take your shopping with you. Reusable food bags are less likely than reusable bags to leak, and it is easier to track where food bags packaging have been and what germs they might have.
6.Save Money:
Many American stores are now charging plastic bags. Although a nickel or dime per plastic bag may seem like a small amount, think about how much it adds up for someone who buys five to ten loads each time they go to the store. According to Natural Resources Defense Council, the average American family uses almost 1,500 shopping bags per year. You could save $75 per year on food bags if each bag costs just a nickel.
7:Repurpose for other uses:
A reusable grocery bag can do more than carrying groceries. The reusable bag is use for all the same things as a traditional tote bag. They used to pack lunch, carry snacks on the road, and even transport books to and from the library.
8. Because You Can:
It isn’t easy to imagine life without plastic fast boxes. Waste Management Northwest. Over thousands of years, generations of people got along just fine with their pocketbooks for carrying their shopping home. You too! The choice between reusable and plastic bags is clear.
