Shopping Totes-Reuseable
July 27, 2009 
2 Comments
We have been using reusable shopping bags since February of this year. It is amazing how few plastic bags we now have that we have to recycle. We use to get aroung 10 to 15 plastic bags a week, from our trips to the grocery store, drug store, shopping center etc. Now that we use reusable shopping bags, that number has been reduced down to maybe one or two a week. That’s because we occasionally forget our bags. We keep some in Carter’s vehicle and some in my VW. Just as a rough guesstimate, we have reduced the number of plastic bags we have use by about 75 bags for the last six months. It is really easy to use the reusable bags, you just have to make it a habit to bring them into the store. If we all would reduce and eventually quit using plastic bags, what an impact it would have on our environment. The following information was a real eye opener for me:
reusable totes
Plastic bags must be recycled by themselves because thaey have a tendency to jam machines.
Plastic bags and other plastic rubbish thrown into the ocean, kill as many as 1,000,000 sea creatures every year.
Each year an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide. That comes out to over one million per minute.
Plastic bags don’t biodegrade, they photodegrade-breaking down into smaller and smaller toxic bits, contaminating soil, waterways and entering the food web when animals accidentally ingest it.
These are just a few of the reasons not to use plastic bags and to use reusable shopping bags. Most stores will give you 5 cents off your bill for every reusable bag you bring in, what a deal, help the earth and your pocket book.
Let us know your shopping bag habits, take our quick poll below;
I always try to keep a reusable canvas bag (or two) in the center console of my truck… I have about eight bags total but always leave most of them behind!
I think the great thing right now is that grocery stores are offering their own brand re-usable totes for around $1 each, I guess it’s free advertising for them as you walk back to the truck etc…
I’ve been doing this for a few years now and I must say I have a nice collection of re-usable shopping bags! Many of them are also stylish so they look more like a handbag. I bought many of them from this company : http://www.cottonage.com/Bags/ since they have great quality for the best price. Highly recommend them! (plus, you can personalize everything!)