Plastic, plastic everywhere!
According to the Earth Policy Institute[1], nearly 2-million plastic bags are used throughout the world each minute of the day! Yikes!! That is a LOT of plastic. As we all know, plastic takes a really long time to decompose. Since plastic bags have only been around for about 50 years, it’s hard to know exactly how long that process will truly take. But some estimates suggest it could take 1000 years for it to actually break down into organic matter.
Outlawed
In 2002, Bangladesh was the first country to completely outlaw plastic bags. That was refreshing to learn, because in my travels around various parts of Asia (I haven’t been to Bangladesh, yet), I have seen a whole lot of trash and plastic bags polluting the rivers and the land. It is just awful in some countries!
Danes are Awesome!
Denmark was the first country to add a fee to your grocery bill for taking one of their plastic bags. That tax was passed in 1993 – well ahead of the rest of the world. Now the Danish people only use about four plastic bags per person per year. Way to go, Denmark!
Bans and Fees
I live in Boulder, Colorado, where in 2013, a 10-cent fee was added for all paper or plastic grocery bags. After that, there was a 69% drop in the use of those disposable bags. People started carrying their own grocery bags. Cool, eh!?
Other cities with plastic bag bans include: Austin, Washington DC, Seattle, San Francisco, and Boston. And according to Forbes[2] the list continues to grow. Many countries around the world are also stepping-up to work on reducing plastic use.[3] Some, like the United States and Canada are leaving it up to individual states or municipalities to take action.
Reducing plastic grocery bags is great, but…
All this banning and charging fees for plastic bag use is definitely a great start on reducing plastic use. However, I still see a whole lot of people putting their fruit and veggies in plastic bags. Then they take their plastic bags, pay for the produce and place them inside the reusable grocery bags. Well, that didn’t make sense to me. So, about a year ago I started looking into alternatives to the plastic produce bags.
Reusable Produce Bags
There are lots of choices when it comes to reusable produce bags. You can make your own, which is a great option–if you have the time and can sew. Or you can purchase bags, which is what I ended-up doing. I found these Brotrade Reusable Mesh Produce Bags on Amazon and have been very happy with them. They are super lightweight, so you’re not paying extra for the bags when they weigh your produce.
They are somewhat transparent, so you can see what you have in them at a quick glance.
Plus, I think my fruit and veggies last longer when I store them in these bags. Unlike plastic, these mesh bags can breathe, so moisture doesn’t build-up and cause quick spoilage.
You can rinse your veggies right in the bag!
These bags are super easy to wash and they dry quickly. I just use some dish soap, wash them in the kitchen sink and hang them to dry. I read in the comments that you can machine wash them, but I would hesitate to do that because of the drawstring. And it’s so simple just to hand wash and hang!
Will you vow to take action?
Have I convinced you to take action and vow to stop using throw-away plastic bags? Oh, I hope so! Hey-let me know in the comments below what your plan of action will be. We have to take care of our mother earth!
🌏🧡🌍💗🌎
[1] http://www.earth-policy.org/images/uploads/press_room/Plastic_Bags.pdf
[2] https://www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/2018/09/20/heres-a-list-of-every-city-in-the-us-to-ban-plastic-bags-will-your-city-be-next/#1831ed843243
[3] https://www.earthday.org/2018/04/20/10-cities-and-countries-confronting-plastic-bag-pollution-head-on/
