Plastic bags are on average only used for about 25 minutes. Compare that to the average reusable bag, which is estimated to have a lifespan of about 700 disposable shopping bags. A reusable shopping bag could be as simple as picking up a reusable grocery bag in the checkout line, or it could look like having special bags for every need such as reusable wine bags. It is your choice for the design of course, but there should be no question of if you will use a reusable bag.
Can Reducing Plastic Bag Usage Really Make a Difference?
Shoppers normally give little thought to the flimsy shopping bags that hold their groceries. That indifference is gradually changing though. Disposable plastic bags are actually a huge problem in the environment.
Is It True Plastic Shopping Bags Are a Problem For Animals?
The problems plastic shopping bags create are not often discussed. For example, did you know that plastic bags are 10% of the washed-up trash on coastlines? Plastic bags also present a deadly problem for the sea animals. About 1 million birds, and over 100,000 sea turtles and other ocean life are severely injured each year after mistaking a plastic bag for food. The animals confuse the flimsy plastic for jellyfish.
How Do Plastic Bags Effect the Environment?
It is estimated that about 1 billion plastic bags are used over the course of a single year in the U.S. alone. That breaks down to between 350 to 500 bags per person each year. If one person committed to using only reusable shopping bags, they could remove about 22,000 plastic bags from the environment over the course of their lifetime. A person doesn’t necessarily need to break out customized wine bags to really cover all of their bases. Being committed to doing their best still removes a good deal of plastic from the environment.
You can certainly find personalized reusable wine bags so that you have a reusable bag for every occasion. There’s nothing wrong with being prepared, especially if the result is a neat shopping tote you can rely on week after week. However, it is important to keep in mind that you don’t need to be perfect in this pursuit. The goal is to do your best to reduce you usage of disposable plastic bags.