If you can carry your purchases without a plastic bag, please do. If you think about it, it’s a little wasteful and silly to carry your gallon of milk in a plastic bag – it has its own handle!
Plastic bags are responsible for killing large numbers of wildlife each year. Plastic bags can kill again and again since it can take them anywhere from 20 to 1000 years to break down/decompose. Plastic bags can also clog drains and waterways.
If you can carry your purchases without a plastic bag, make a step toward green. It is a small step that actually will make a big difference.
Retailers should love it when you say no to a plastic bag –you’re saving them money!
There will be times when you need a plastic bag. RECYCLE your HDPE bags. These are the flimsy, grocery store kind (not the thicker kind you get at Target or Old Navy –those aren’t recyclable around here). Take out the receipts and take all the #2 plastic bags back to the grocery store on your next trip. That way they can’t get blown around in the trash pick-up and make trouble for our environment and they won’t take-up space in our landfills for a thousand years.
Please have a look at this website from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) for some general information and links to more information: http://www.abc.net.au/science/features/bags/default.htm
--Katie Renner (summarized)
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