Creating reusable bags from sustainable resources is one big step on the path to an eco-friendlier society. Everyone has heard by now of the importance of the green movement. If we don’t act quickly, we will not have much of an earth left to pass down to our grandchildren, or possibly even our children.
While the green movement shows us the primary reasons for reusable bags, these are not the only benefits – despite being the only immediately obvious ones.
Reusable bags are also convenient, and a more financially sound investment for both companies and the individual.
Plastic Bags Aren’t Biodegradable
Plastic bags are not generally biodegradable, although there have been some crafted recently which will eventually degrade. These are not what is typically found stuffed into that over-loaded kitchen drawer everyone has, however.
Instead, grocery store bags are thrown into landfills, where they pose significant issues for wildlife. Animal species have been known to suffocate or become tangled enough to lose oxygen supply in their limbs in plastic bags.
Reduce Landfills
The average family sends over 17 pounds of trash to landfills per day. This is a shocking number, especially when considering many of those items are not biodegradable. If an item does not break down, it simply sits where it was dumped.
Landfills then become overloaded with junk, which then requires more space. More natural land is taken over by landfills. The number of landfills has already dramatically increased over the last century. If the trend continues, there will soon be thousands.
Looking Towards the Future
Reusable bags made from sustainable resources are vital to the future health of the earth. Take, for example, grocery shopping. If you go once a week, and purchase three plastic bags of items each time, you produce the need for over 150 bags. Once home, they get thrown in the trash or shoved in that infamous drawer. Instead, you can protect the environment around you and opt for reusable bags to help cut back on the waste of plastic.
Financially Sound Investment
From a company’s standpoint, reusable bags make a lot of sense. Each plastic bag costs an average of 5 cents, and if you have 500 customers using three bags a week, that’s almost $4,000 a year.
Instead, companies could “go green” by reducing plastic waste by hundreds of pounds AND save money. Do away with plastic bags and offer reusable ones for sale. You could offer a free bag to anyone purchasing, say, $100 or more, to entice customers into using them.
Convenience
Reusable bags are also much more convenient. Where disposable bags are flimsy, reusable bags are sturdy. Disposable bags also don’t hold their shape, while reusable bags do.
Reusable bags are also foldable and made with sustainable resources. They fit neater into small spaces, thus saving significant space over crumpled disposable bags.
There is obviously a need for reusable bags made from sustainable resources. The greatest advantage is to the environment, but companies and individuals can also reap significant benefits.
Between being eco-friendlier, convenient, and financially sound, there are no notable downsides to the production of these bags, except that it requires a small upfront investment.
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