7 Reasons Why You Should Use a Reusable Grocery Bag ...

According to Reusethisbag.com, 100 BILLION new plastic bags are used every year – and that´s just in the US. Imagine how many are used worldwide. Then there are paper bags – 14 million trees are turned into paper bags annually. A reusable grocery bag can be taken out again and again, lasting hundreds of times longer.

Have you been to Antarctica? The chances are that it´s not been among your holiday destinations. But that plastic bag you threw away may have travelled there. Yes, plastic bags have actually been found in such remote areas. Plus they release gases when they decompose. Reusable bags are much better.

Have you ever spilt something in a plastic bag, and so thrown the bag away? If your reusable bag gets stained, simply throw it in the machine and it will emerge as good as new. In fact, if you´ve got some pretty cotton and a sewing machine, it´s easy to run up a washable bag – see this tutorial at sewsensible.blogspot.com.es

It might only amount to small change, but replacing your use of plastic bags with a reusable grocery bag does save you money. And these days, every penny counts! Your weekly shop may use five or six bags; let´s say these cost 5c each. 30c a week might not sound like much, but that´s $15 a year that you could use for something else. Invest it in reusable bags that you can use at the market, carrying your library books … they´re not just good for shopping.

We don´t always plan to go shopping, and so have to buy a plastic bag. But you can be prepared, without needing to carry a large bag. A cloth bag can be easily rolled up and carried in your handbag, ready for those unexpected purchases. Plus they´re sturdier than plastic bags, if you need to carry something that´s fairly heavy.

Plastic bags are a menace to wildlife. Animals can get caught up in the handles, and sea creatures often swallow plastic bags, which obviously proves fatal. Every person that stops using plastic bags and switches to reusable bags helps reduce the risk to wildlife.

We used to take it for granted that when we went shopping, we would carry our purchases home in paper or plastic bags. Yet it´s easy to change your habits. In the decade since Ireland was the first country to introduce a charge for plastic bags, the use has dropped by a massive 90%. Since Spanish supermarkets followed suit in the last year or two, I´ve noticed most people carrying reusable bags. It´s very easy to do.

Using a reusable grocery bag is a really positive step to take to help the environment. It really doesn´t take that much effort to train yourself to change from using plastic bags, and there are so many colourful and practical bags available. Many stores now have them on sale. Have you moved over to reusable bags; is it now second nature to you, and have you found that stores still try to give you plastic bags?

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