Living Green…
Plastic Bag Facts
Plastic bags have become an accepted part of our shopping culture, but they shouldn’t be. Here are some facts you need to know about plastic bags. 1. Plastic bags are made from non-renewable resources. Most plastic shopping bags are made from polyethylene which is a thermoplastic made from natural gas and crude oil. Reducing the use of plastic shopping bags used will decrease our use of these natural resources. 2. Plastic bags don’t biodegrade, they photodegrade. Photodegradation is a chemical reaction between plastic and sunlight. It means that the plastic bags break down into smaller and smaller toxic bits contaminating soil and waterways. The average plastic bag is used for about five minutes to carry your purchases home, yet these single use plastic bags can take up to one thousand years to break down. 3. Say no to plastic bags at the cash register! Combine the number of bags we use every year with the time it takes for them to break down, and you have a major environmental problem to land, water, and wildlife. Plastic bags are not only harmful to our wildlife and environment, but they also cost us money. They add a great deal of money to our grocery bills each year and, thanks to wind-borne litter, we also pay for them through our taxes which fund storm water, waste, and litter management. 4. We can make a difference! If each person uses a cloth bag, we can each save at least six bags a week. That's 24 bags a month and 288 bags per person each year. This adds up to 22,176 bags saved per person over an average lifetime of 77 years. If just 20,000 people in our state stopped using 6 new plastic bags when shopping each week for only a year, this would total 5,760,000 bags for the year. Think of the impact we would have over a lifetime of using cloth bags instead! 5. Reusable bags are the solution! A sturdy, reusable bag will last for years and only needs to be used 6 times to have a lower environmental impact. Buy or make a bag today!
Take Action Today Get started on your BYOB project today. It’s easy! Here are some tips to help you reduce your usage of plastic bags. 1. Use reusable bags and containers for your shopping whenever possible. 2. Say NO to plastic bags at the cash register, especially if you only have a few items.
3. After you unpack your groceries, return your reusable bags to your car or keep them near the front door in your home or office. That way you won’t forget them the next time you go shopping. 4. Reuse any plastic bags you already have the next time you go shopping. 5. Open your eyes to how many plastic shopping bags you have at home. Keep count and try to reduce the number you take home. Find new uses for those that you have. What new ways can you think of to reuse your plastic bags? 6. If you have accumulated plastic bags, find a participating retailer and recycle the bags. Recyclable carry-out bags can be made into a variety of products such as new bags, plastic lumber, furniture, laminate subflooring, hardware items and drainage pipe.
Get Local Retailers Involved Ask local stores to stop providing plastic bags for free, or to offer a discount to customers for not taking a plastic bag. Ask them to stock alternatives to plastic bags if they don’t already, and encourage friends and family to get involved. If your local retailer does not already offer reusable bag options, explain some of the advantages that they would gain by going plastic bag free. Here are some quick points to consider: 1. Lower retailer costs. Plastic bags are an accepted cost for most retailers. The retail industry currently spends hundreds of millions of dollars each year giving away “free” plastic bags at a cost to their business. By choosing to go plastic bag free, they would no longer have to pay for plastic bags, and the savings could be passed on to customers which would help make the business more competitive. 2. Turn a cost into a profit. By choosing to go plastic bag free, businesses no longer have to pay for plastic bags. Instead, they could make a profit selling environmentally conscious reusable bags. 3. Use this action to create good community relationships. Contact the local newspaper and radio station to let them know that the retailers are taking action to help reduce the millions of plastic check-out bags used by consumers in this country every year. 4. Get involved in your community. Instead of giving away a free plastic bag, businesses could charge a few cents per plastic bag and give the proceeds to local charities. 5. Be at the front of change. By reducing plastic bag use, businesses would be at the front of change, helping to reduce our environmental footprint. How Can Retailers Make the Change? 1. Offer reusable bags for sale to customers. There are a variety of reusable alternatives to plastic bags at modest cost. Place a prominent display of your reusable bags near the check- out. 2. Encourage store personnel to promote reusable bag options to all customers by asking, "Would you like to buy a reusable bag?" 3. Put plastic bag reduction posters and brochures near the cash register to educate customers about why they should refuse a plastic bag. 4. Offer a recycling program for plastic bags for those who choose to use them. Place the recycling container in a convenient place, plainly labeled, and encourage people to use it.
2 How Can You Get Started? 1. Do advance planning. It may be helpful to identify those stores that are already promoting a bring-your-own-bag system. Use the names of these retailers when you are talking to other retailers about offering plastic check-out alternatives. 2. Talk to your local newspaper or radio station and ask them to help motivate people in your community to reduce their plastic bag usage. Set a starting date for the project and encourage media to cover the activities. 3. Design a plastic bag reduction poster to go up in your local retail outlets. 4. If possible, make arrangements to give each school-age child a free reusable, biodegradable bag. Check to see if local governmental agencies, community organizations or businesses would agree to sponsor this project. Encourage children to share information on reducing the use of plastic bags with their family members.
References
Conway, Chris. “Taking Aim at All Those Plastic Bags,” New York Times. April 1, 2007. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/01/weekinreview/01basics.html .
“Paper or Plastic?” Washington Post. http://turningthetides.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=114&Itemid=114 .
Roach, John. “Plastic Grocery Bags Sacking the Environment?” National Geographic News. September 2003. www.reusablebags.com
Clip art © Microsoft. Used with permission
Linda Adler, M.A. Extension Specialist for Home Furnishings
June 2009
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