There are Too Many Plastic Bags to Use Them All as Pooper Scoopers
Written by kate - who has written 46 posts on Green Thinking Blog.
Uh huh—you are guilty. Yes, you, who habitually forgets to bring your canvas tote to the grocery store. Or even worse, you, who doesn’t even ever think about using a canvas tote when going to the grocer! Okay, don’t feel too bad, we have all done it before, or have recently adopted the idea of reusable grocery bags. The good news is that you can start being green on your next grocery adventure!!!
Reusable grocery bags have become a way a life that we are reminded of every time we are standing in the check-out lane. Target, Publix, and Whole Foods all offer green totes at their check-out. My personal favorite reusable bag comes from IKEA. Purchased for five cents at the check-out with proceeds given to saving forests, it is large enough for my entire grocery load, laundry load, beach bag, or whatever I want! Plus, it is bright blue with excellent handles (extremely important) and it can’t be missed. Everywhere I go I am a walking reminder to all my fellow shoppers, laundry mat attendees, or beach bums to be green.
The craze is so huge that some locations of Whole Foods have adopted the idea of being “bag” free. My local Whole Foods store will be joining this multitude come Earth Day 2008, and they are to be commended. According to the organic market’s website, plastic grocery bags take up to 1,000 years to decompose! I know what you are thinking, “Yea, but I re-use my plastic bags for garbage bags and pooper scoopers for dog walks.” Both are excellent ideas, but your lucky bags are only .6% of all 100 billion+ bags that are recycled every year. The Environmental Protection Agency says plastic bags are not only an endangerment to wildlife, but they pollute our land and water. I know my car has fallen victim many a time to the bag collection on the pollute pipe simply driving to work.
Okay, so I have chastised you, I have praised your efforts, but I have yet to indulge your stylish side. Grocery bags can be completely chic! Check out Ecobags.com or Peaceful Company for stylish, reusable options. They have Totes with Quotes, natural canvas, fade-resistant graphic prints, and even lunch sacks for everyday use.
The bags shown above are available at PeacefulCompany.com.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:32 am
[...] presents There are Too Many Plastic Bags to Use Them All as Pooper Scoopers, saying, “Reusable grocery bags have become a way a life that we are reminded of every time [...]
May 2nd, 2008 at 4:41 pm
I suggest NEVER using plastic bags as pooper scoopers! Why preserve your dog’s biodegradable poo for the next 100+ years?
Lots of stores now have plastic bag recycling and anything made from wood or plastic (decks, patio furniture) can be made of recycled plastic bags.
Also, be sure you know the difference between waste bags that claim to be biodegradable and those that actually are. Unfortunately, there are a number of bags on the market that contain chemicals that leach into the ground and instead of breaking down, they actually break into pieces.
Know the difference!
http://leashwecando.com/Feature.html
May 11th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
[...] topic of reusable bags was briefly touched upon in a previous entry. I had made a careless depiction that plastic grocery bags could be used for picking up your [...]