For those that have been following my blog I tracked my bags saved from 11/10/08 to 04/16/10 and saved 244 Plastic bags, 66 Fruit/Veggie bags and 35 paper bags in that time frame! As a part of the revival of this blog I have decided to start counting again with some updated and new advice, since I am now carless as well. Use this as a source of inspiration on where your reusable bags can actually be useful. The back history on this goal was that one day some time ago I vowed to never use a plastic bag again. This was after reading a number of articles about bags getting caught in odd places, the cess pool (now pools) in the oceans and learning how many bags we consume and needlessly throw away or try to recycle (which appears to be a joke, since it costs more to recycle them then you can sell the recycled material for). So this is where I will keep my list of bags saved and how I do it so others can follow in my footsteps. Since starting this quest, I try to not carry out any type of bag at all, including paper, veggie/fruit bags and plastic shopping bags. I will occasionally get one of these items to reuse as bin liners or for special cooking techniques, roasting bell peppers for example requires a paper bag. For the most part, though, I'm working hard to change how I think about how I waste things, by simply getting a bag from a store I never needed. Feel free to follow along on my journey.
My total of saved bags as of 05/14/12 (stats kept since 05/01/12):
- 8 Plastic Shopping Bags
- 3 Fruit/Veggie Plastic Bags
- 0 Paper Shopping Bags
Tips to reducing your bag consumption:
- Buy reusable bags made from post consumer recycled content or organic fabric, prefereably ones that can also be recycled at the end of their life, years later. Use caution when falling for cheap or free bags... http://www.reuseit.com/learn-more/myth-busting/cheap-reusables-are-a-good-thing
- Keep these in your car, purse, laptop bag, home or office, wherever you will remember to grab them from whenever you head to any store.
- Buy one reusable bag small enough to carry on you (mine is from Bed, Bath and Beyond and stuffs into a built in mini-sac)
- Carry your small bag everywhere, you never know where you'll need it
- Preplan your shopping trips and take reusable bags into the store with you (this will become habit evenutally, I promise)
- Hand your reusable bags to the sales person when you start the checkout process
- Buy or reuse mesh or breathable organic fabric bags for Veggies and Fruit or simply don't bag them (My bags are the mesh bags I used to buy my dog's tennis balls in)
- If you completely forgot your reuseable bag which is the BEST option, go with Plastic and return them to the store for recycling, this should be a last hope option though. (Paper actually takes more fossil fuels, and natural recourses to make than Plastic but if you don't recycle then go paper as the toxins and trash created by unrecycled bags is overwhelming)
My bag saving activites:
- 05/13/12 - Lunch from Sandwich Me In for a picnic on the lake (Saved: +1 Plastic Bag, I'll also be blogging about this place soon! Great sustainability ideas!)
- 05/09/12 - Ulta and Gift finding Shopping (Saved: +2 Plastic Bags)
- 05/08/12 - Mariano's Grocery Run (Saved: +3 Fruit/Veggie Plastic and +5 Plastic Bags)
