How many times do we go out for groceries? At least once a week. And, at least once a month for other shopping needs. Each of those trips bring a bunch of plastic bags at home which 99% of the times end up in trash bins.
The plastic polluting our lands and oceans
This ever increasing plastic waste is the major source of pollution in our environment. The reason is majority of those plastic bags (and other plastic materials) end up in landfills because we are not doing a good job recycling or reusing them.
Recycling is not free
Even though some stores now offer taking those plastic bags back, which is great, but that obviously comes at some additional cost. You would need to bring them back to those stores (if you are lucky to find those locations near you) and then the store would often need to clean them for reuse.
The paper bags at some stores - the better
The good thing is many stores provide paper based bags (as some towns enforce this) at the time of shopping. But those bags too cost us some trees in order to make them. Trees are our natural carbon reducing agents. We need to save them! But certainly the paper based bags are better when it comes to pollution since they are biodegradable and compostable.
The solution is reusable bags - the best
Let's not be shy or lazy. Carry your own reusable bags when doing groceries. This, not so difficult change, can make huge difference with such a little effort and you will feel better when you don't see those plastic bags scattered in your home.
Avoid the clutter
It is definitely added effort taking care of those plastic bags. The clutter they cause and eventually harmful to environment.
Go after the loose produce
Almost all of local grocery stores offer loose produce (as well as pre-packed). If not, try the local farmer markets where you will find the loose produce for sure and you will be helping those small businesses too.
When you have your own bags, you can only buy what you need. This helps reduce the food waste also.
Where to get the reusable bags?
Many stores now offer the reusable bags at their checkout counters which you can use but those are mostly plastic too. We got you covered here.
You can buy those at goosavvy.com. These are 12 bags in mixed sizes for a variety of needs. They are made of rope mesh and are washable to reuse.
What to do with plastic bags we already have?
We all, for sure, have some plastic bags already at home, or we bring them when we forget to carry our own bags (we are humans, we forget). Well, in that case, let's try to reuse them as much as we can.
There are certainly many things at home that can be stored in those surplus bags. We can use them for carrying stuff around. My wife and I keep the clean bags and use them when we cook and need to carry food boxes (for our friends or neighbors for example, or for our own road trips).
What's next?
This is the first one from a series of blog posts to help identify and reduce the sources of plastic pollution by suggesting reusable alternatives. Reducing the plastic at home can reduce it from the environment.
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Shop sustainable alternatives at www.goosavvy.com.