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Choosing A Reusable Shopping Bag
The worldwide annual consumption of
disposable plastic bags is somewhere between 500 billion and a trillion - that
works out to be around a million bags a minute.
It's been encouraging to see some stores
discontinuing disposable shopping bags of their own accord and some cities and
states moving towards a disposable bag ban - but that leaves us with another
challenge, in a world without disposable shopping bags; what type of reusable
bag to buy?
I have some reusable shopping bags made of
plastic that weigh as much as a couple of dozen disposable plastic shopping
bags and I've often wondered if they are doing more harm than good.
While the type I have are recyclable, I always try and remember that Recycle
is last of the three R's of going green (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) for good
reason - it does take a substantial amount of energy
to recycle. Also, I don't even know if the materials used were recycled or
"new" plastic. Then there's cotton bags - and cotton takes vast
amounts of water to grow. And what about hemp?
The following are various types of what are
often referred to as "green" reusable bags and their pros and cons.
I'm not recommending any particular solution, just providing the information.
Polypropylene and polyethylene
reusable bags
Polypropylene and polyethylene are forms of
plastic
Advantages
- Can be recycled
- Strong and durable
- Can be made from recycled materials
- Chemical resistant
- Very cheap to produce
Disadvantages
- Low quality bags made from thin materials
tend to wear out very quickly
- Polypropylene and polyethylene are made
from fossil fuels.
- Recycling of these bags isn't available in
all locations
Reusuable jute bags
Jute is a plant fiber that can be spun into
coarse, strong threads. It's often referred to as hessian in products, such as
a hessian bag
Advantages
- Biodegradable
- One of the strongest natural fibers
- Relatively cheap to buy
- Durable
- Jute crops require little water
Disadvantages
- Not very resistant to moisture unless
chemically treated
- Jute may be grown with the use of
pesticides
- Most jute products are imported (travel
miles = greenhouse gases)
Reusable calico bags
Calico is a usually a cotton fabric that's
unbleached and not fully processed
Advantages
- The lack of bleaching and processing makes
it kinder to the environment as less chemicals are used
- The fabric relatively cheap to produce
- Cotton is very strong and durable
Disadvantages
- Not water resistant unless chemically
treated
- Unless organically grown, cotton requires
a huge amount of pesticide
- The growing of cotton is very water
intensive
Reusable cotton/canvas bags
Advantages
- Soft fabric
- Durable and strong
Disadvantages
- Unless the cotton is grown organically,
high levels of pesticides are used
- Fully processed cotton required extensive
additional treatment
- Cotton is a water intensive crop
Reusable hemp bags
The word "hemp" tends to stir up
all sorts of association with marijuana. However, in terms of textiles,
industrial hemp is a different plant from the same family without the
hallucinogenic properties of its cousin. Learn
more about hemp.
Advantages
- Incredibly strong, durable and rot
resistant fiber
- The crop can grow in poor soils with
little water
Disadvantages
- Can be quite expensive due to resistance
on the part of governments to allow the crop to be grown domestically,
purely due to incorrect associations with marijuana; so most hemp products
in the western world are imported. Thankfully, this is slowly starting to
change.
Cloth scrap bags
These are made up of repurposed materials -
sewn together from old clothing and fabric that would otherwise be thrown out
or used as rags. It's a great use of waste materials!
General tips for choosing a reusable
bag
As you can see from the above, just about all
reusable bags have strong benefits, most similar, but usually a few
disadvantages as well. After all, there is really nothing we do that doesn't
have some sort of negative environmental impact. Whatever your choice, look
for quality as the more bags you have to buy, the bigger the associated
environmental impact.
If you do choose fiber over plastic, if you
can afford it try to go for organically grown fibres. Also check what sorts of
dyes and colorings have been used to make the product as some of these can be
quite nasty environmentally speaking.
In the case of reusable plastic bags, ensure
the materials can be recycled - that way when your bag has ended its useful
life, the materials can be reclaimed instead of heading to landfill where they
will take generations to break down. Even better, buy one made from recycled
materials.
Additionally, and purely just a personal view
- if you buy a "designer" bag, you'll likely pay a ton more. Why
spend the extra cash on some pithy saying or brand name slammed on a bag? You
could use the money you save to do something really worthwhile. It's just a
bag for your shopping folks, we don't need to make a fashion statement every
time we walk out the door do we? :)
Courtesy : Michael Bloch
Green Living Tips.com
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