This is our challenge from Reduce Footprints this week : Refuse Plastic Bags at the shops etc. for 7 days.
That won't be hard be some of you in South Africa - where plastic bags and their detrimental effect on the environment were noted years ago - and plastic bags are no longer offered as far as I know (or do you just have to pay for them?). I have a plentiful supply of reusable bages but still find it hard to remember to take them into the shops with me sometimes. When this happens I have started to ask for the groceries to just go straight back in the shopping cart (trolley) and then I load them loose in the car and just take them out when I get home. Amazingly, this is really not too inconvenient. But this week I will make a concerted effort to take my reusable bags and USE them!! Join me.
At a community day a month or so ago, we were told that it can take 15 years for a plastic bag to decompose! I am not sure how true that is but surely we can all agree we do not need more plastic!!
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2 comments:
It would be so wonderful if plastic bags were banned everywhere. The problem with plastic is that it breaks down, but never completely decomposes. Consequently, little plastic pellets are finding their way to our waterways ... and creating dead zones. That's just one problem ... they also are mistaken for food so our marine wildlife is being killed, as well.
Here's a great site with a lot of info. on plastic bags and why it's better to avoid them:
http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080506/MULTIMEDIA02/80505016
Thanks for posting about the challenge ... and for participating!
Small Footprints
Here in the UK - the supermarkets charge you for new plastic bags. They also sell reusable bags made from hemp etc. With the busy lifestyles we all find ourselves, my friends and I carry the mini foldable bags in our bags just in case we find we need to go to the shops when out and about..
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