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Did you know that in most of Europe and Canada it is considered customary to bring your own bag when you go shopping? Instead of offering discounts for people who do bring their own bags (like in the US), they charge for those who don’t. Weird, huh? Not really…I mean when you think about it, how lazy are we as a society that we have to get new bags every time we go shopping? How hard is it for us to just bring a couple of bags with us? So silly if you ask me.

Some facts about the impact plastic bags have on the environment:

• Plastic bags don’t biodegrade, they photodegrade – breaking downinto smaller and smaller toxic bits contaminating soil and waterwaysand entering the food web when animals accidentally ingest them.
• A plastic bag can take between 400 to 1,000 years to break down in the environment. (YIKES!)
• Plastic bags cause over 100,000 sea turtle and other marine animal deaths every year when animals mistake them for food. (This one breaks my heart)
• Plastic bags are among the 12 items of debris most often found incoastal cleanups, according to the nonprofit Center for MarineConservation.
• Nearly 90% of the debris in our oceans is plastic.

Some facts about plastic bag consumption:
In the United States:

• According to the Environmental Protection Agency, over 380 billionplastic bags, sacks and wraps are consumed in the U.S. each year.
• According to The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. goes through 100billion plastic shopping bags annually. (Estimated cost to retailers is$4 billion).
• Four out of five grocery bags in the U.S. are now plastic.
• The average family accumulates 60 plastic bags in only four trips to the grocery store.

Plastic bags are wasteful, hurt our ecosystems, and are unfortunately everywhere.
Every year, 500 billion to 1 trillion of these bags are consumedworldwide. Because only 1 in every 200 bags is ever recycled, almost allof them are discarded and enter our landfills, get blown everywhere,and float around in our oceans. Because plastic bags don’t decomposewell, their toxic elements seep into our soils, lakes, rivers, andoceans. They harm land, air, and sea creatures. And because they cantake 400 to 1000 years to break down, they can do a lot of damage for avery long time.
Benefits of not using plastic bags:

• Conserves natural resources.
• Reduces waste.
• Cleans up our lands and seas.
• Helps our air and sea creatures.
• Helps us!

In our house we know all too well that remembering to bring your own bag to the grocery store can be tough. In our busy lives, we’re usually just trying to make time to actually go grocery shopping that half the time we don’t remember our bags until we’re actually at the store. I was really excited when I discovered that on www.conservingnow.com you can get a FREE window cling to help you remember to bring your bags! When mine came in the mail, instead of sticking it on the car window, I decided to tape it above our lightswitch by the garage door. Our problem is that we always forget to bring the bags with us, so I figure that until it’s second nature, this will help us to remember to grab them on our way out the door!

To get your own window cling, click HERE

They also have a store on their site with other helpful reminder tools, tee shirts, reusable bags, and more! And they even offer a 15% discount off of your first purchase :)

So, join me and start bringing your own bag when you go shopping! Maybe I’m just being optimistic, but I have a feeling that we’ll live to see the day that bringing your own bag is common place in the United States. I mean really…is it that hard? If you’re new to this whole eco-friendly lifestyle thing, this is a great place to start. It’s such a simple thing, but it really makes a HUGE difference.

*All information in this post is taken from www.conservingnow.com

Posted on February 25, 2010 by thecrunchywife

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