Natural Environment Blog

If you’ve read some of my other articles, you might know that I’m a huge advocate of reusable shopping bags. Reusable shopping bags allow you to use the same bag over and over again, usually for years, before allowing it to decompose quickly and naturally.

If you’re trying to eliminate plastic shopping bags from your life, you too can start using reusable shopping bags (if you haven’t already done so).

More Alternatives

As good as reusable shopping bags are, they aren’t the only alternative. After all, there are many ways of carrying stuff!

Here are some examples:

• Use a shopping basket
• Backpack - Stuff your groceries into your backpack, then ride your bike or walk if practical
• Bring your own trolley
• Throw your shopping into a box

BBC News asked readers what their preferred option was for carrying groceries and other shopping. It’s great to see that some people really are doing their bit to eliminate plastic bag usage. Here’s what the readers had to say.

The UK prime minister, Gordon Brown has been threatening to force supermarkets and retailers to stop using plastic bags if they don’t do so voluntarily.

As it turns out, the UK government has itself been just as guilty of polluting the environment with plastic bags.

The UK conservative party has revealed that the UK government has bought more than 1,200,000 plastic bags over the last 2 years. These plastic bags are typically used in promotional campaigns by the government’s marketing arm - Central Office of Information (COI).

The 1.2 million plastic bags represents over £91,536 of tax payers’ money.

In response to the conservative party’s findings, the COI say this:

We already advise our clients to consider alternatives such as hemp but as part of this initiative the purchase of plastic bags will be phased out with immediate effect.

I presume that this translates into “we/our clients will stop using plastic bags immediately”.

As much as I go on about the importance of using reusable bags, I understand that it’s not always as easy as it sounds to get started. Plastic bags can be a hard habit to break as suggested in this article from the Contra Costa Times:

Like many consumers, Morton wants to do the right thing and stop taking disposable bags home from grocery stores, but she has not made a habit of using reusable bags.

When I look back on my own transition from plastic bags to reusable bags, I remember how I constantly forgot to take my reusable bags! And, as Judith Morton says in the above article:

“…and here I am in a store shopping without my own (reusable) bag.”

You wouldn’t believe how furious I was with myself each time I turned up to the supermarket checkout, only to realize that I’d forgotten to bring my reusable bags. When you’ve never been in the habit of taking bags grocery shopping with you, it’s so easy to forget them. You only remember once you’ve selected your groceries and you arrive at the checkout.

At first, I would just buy another reusable bag at the supermarket (fortunately, reusable bags are sold in the supermarkets in Australia). But then it got to the stage where I’d bought so many reusable bags I knew I had to do something different - I had to remember to take my reusable bags with me in the first place!

This was easier said than done, but eventually, I managed to completely break the plastic bag habit completely. Now, I can’t remember the last time I turned up at the supermarket without my reusable bags.

Here are some of the things I tried in order to remind myself to take my reusable bags to the supermarket:

• I’d keep my reusable bags in the car. This is because, I would often do my grocery shopping on the way home from work (and I used to drive to the train station). Once I parked at the shopping center, I would see my green bags in the car and think “ah, I must take them with me!”
• One problem I found is that, after I’d brought my groceries inside, I would often forget to return my shopping bags to the car! Then, the next time would go shopping I’d forget my bags again - doh! I dealt with this by placing my reusable bags near my front door. Then, the next time I was heading to the car, I would see my reusable bags and take them to the car with me.
• Now, I work from home, and I cycle most places I need to go. So, what I do now is keep a reusable bag in my backpack. This is because I usually take my backpack with me whenever I ride my bike. Usually, I can fit all groceries straight into the backpack. If I buy more than a bagful of groceries, I’ll split it between my backpack and reusable grocery bag.

Once I started doing these, I rarely forgot to take my reusable bags shopping with me. As I said, I can’t remember the last time I had to use plastic bags from the supermarket.

So, if you’re trying to break the plastic bag habit, but have the same problem I had, try keeping them in your car, backpack, or other place that will help jog your memory. I’m sure you’ll be happy with the results.

How many times have you heard the adage “There’s no such thing as a free lunch”?

What this means of course, is that a person cannot get something for nothing - there is always a cost. Some things appear to be free, but there’s always a hidden cost.

The phrase is actually a shortened version of “There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch” (TANSTAAFL) from Robert A. Heinlein’s 1966 novel The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress.

It’s particularly aimed at society - meaning, if one individual or group gets something at no cost, another group or individual else ends up paying for it.

I wonder if plastic bags are today’s “free lunch”?

They are typically given away for free with everything you buy. Even if you buy one small item - you get a free plastic bag. How cool is that? A free thing with everything I buy!

So, we’ve had our free lunch. Now, every one of those free plastic bags is being paid for - by the natural environment. Unfortunately, the average 8 minutes of usage we got from each of our plastic bags will now take 1,000 years to be fully paid for. That’s how long it can take for a plastic bag to decompose. And that’s not all. There are many other impacts of plastic bags on the environment.

But, too often, the same old attitude seems to remain: I’ll use as many as I want - after all they’re free…

It was encouraging to read this article regarding the success of Ireland’s plastic bag tax.

What I particularly liked about the article (apart from the obvious success of the tax), were these comments from, Senator Feargal Quinn, the founder of the Irish supermarket chain Superquinn:

“I spent many months arguing against this tax with the minister; I thought customers wouldn’t accept it, but I have become a big, big enthusiast”.

I wonder how many more people, from countries that have either taxed or banned plastic bags, have gone from critic to supporter?

A group called “Coalition to Support Plastic Bag Recycling” is taking Oakland City Council to court because it’s actually trying to do the right thing and ban plastic bags. According to the “coalition”, once the ban is in place, people will turn to paper bags - which are often said to be just as bad or worse than plastic bags.

The coalition’s attorney says:

“We believe that plastic-bag recycling is the most environmentally responsible strategy.”

Haven’t they heard of reusable bags? There are plenty of alternatives - we don’t just have to choose between paper and plastic!

Of course recycling plastic bags is better than not recycling them. But, as far as the environment goes, recycling plastic bags isn’t as good as simply reusing a good strong, durable bag that lasts for years.

But of course the coalition would like to keep plastic bags - it consists of plastic bag makers and recyclers.

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

Whole Foods Market, the world’s largest natural-food retailer just announced that they will be eliminating plastic bags from all of it’s stores. Whole Foods aim to be plastic bag-free by April 22 this year (which happens to be Earth Day).

Given Whole Foods have 270 stores throughout U.S., Canada, and the U.K., this should have a bit of an impact. They will be the first supermarket in the U.S. to completely ban plastic bags. Whole Foods have already eliminated plastc bags from its San Francisco, Toronto and Austin stores.

Over the next 3 months, Whole Foods will be phasing out their plastic bag inventories and stocking more reusable bags, which can be purchased. The 100% recycled paper bags will still be used. They will also offer a 10 cent refund to those customers who bring their own bags.

The number of plastic bags being used globally each year is mind boggling and they are having an enormous impact on the natural environment. I think we should be doing everything we can to eliminate them. Paper bags aren’t the answer either - they can be just as harmful to the environment as plastic bags.

For many people, this can be very confusing - the common perception is that paper is better than plastic. This is why I wrote this post which discusses what to look for in an eco-friendly grocery bag.

With all the problems plastic bags are causing to the natural environment, it’s little wonder there’s an abundance of alternatives hitting the market. Although biodegradable plastic bags have been around for a while now, many people still don’t know they exist.

Let’s look at the two main types of biodegradable plastic bags.

Biodegradable Plastic Bags

Typically, biodegradable plastic bags are made from farmed products like cornstarch, which break down into elements like carbon dioxide, water and methane. They don’t just decompose automatically though - they need the right conditions to decompose.

To decompose properly, a biodegradable plastic bag should be composted. It should not be sent to landfill, as it may contribute to methane emissions. To meet international standards, a biodegradable plastic bag should compost within 12 weeks, then fully biodegrade within 6 months.

Degradable Plastic Bags

Degradable plastic bags decompose due to a chemical additive to oxygen, light or heat and are best suited to landfill. Degradable bags are also referred to as “oxo degradable” bags.

Degradable plastic bags will usually break down automatically. This could range between anywhere from 3 months to 18 months after manufacture, or even longer.

So… Are They Eco Friendly?

On the face of it, biodegradable and degradable plastic bags seem like a good concept. They can be used just like any other plastic bag, then when the time is right, they decompose - possibly within 6 months (or 18 months for oxo degradable bags).

While it’s not hard to argue that these bags are much better than traditional plastic bags (which can take up to 1,000 years to fully decompose), many environmental organizations argue that biodegradable plastic bags still don’t go far enough in saving the planet, and I tend to agree.

Even if a plastic bag does biodegrade within 5 - 6 months, that’s still plenty of time for it to cause serious issues. A biodegradable plastic bag can still end up in the ocean where it can kill it’s wildlife. When a plastic bag begins to suffocate a baby dolphin, that dolphin will die within minutes. The fact that the bag will decompose within 6 months means nothing - it’s already too late.

Also, given the fact that up to 1 trillion plastic bags are being used on our planet every year, this is still a problem. Even if only say, 1% of plastic bags end up in our oceans, that still a lot of plastic bags. Every one of these can kill regardless of their biodegradable properties.

So, while these bags are better than traditional plastic bags, there are much more eco friendly bags around.

Most of us are pretty well aware that plastic grocery bags are a big “no no” when it comes to helping the environment. And more people are realizing that paper bags are not much better.

So, if we shouldn’t use plastic bags or paper bags to do our shopping, what should we use?

That probably depends on who you talk to. I think you’ll be off to a good start if you can find a bag that’s:

• Eco friendly (environmentally friendly)
• Reusable
• Large

Although they are reusable, plastic bags aren’t eco friendly. They’re not very big either, which means you need to use more of them.

Paper bags are actually worse than plastic bags when it comes to the environment. Yes, they can be reused. And they are usually larger than plastic bags, but the damage they do to the environment makes them a much less attractive option.

Best Eco Friendly Bags?

Eco friendly grocery bags are those that have a minimum impact on the natural environment. This means in both the construction of the bag, as well as the disposal of the bag.

So, here are some of the things I would look for in an eco friendly bag:

• Requires less energy to be made than other bags
• Fully biodegradable (preferably can fully decompose within 6 months or less - inline with international standards such as EN 13432)
• Preferably made from a natural fiber (such as hemp, jute etc)
• Durable enough to be reused many times (say, more than 2 - 3 years under normal use)
• Large enough to not need too many of them

My post, Eco Friendly Grocery Bags, suggests some good product types to look for.

Larger Bags are Better

Another benefit of many eco-friendly grocery bags is that they are usually much larger than the typical plastic bag. Therefore, you can fit more groceries into them - you need less bags. Less bags means less energy to construct them and less bags to biodegrade.

Benefits of Reusable Grocery Bags

Even if you can’t find an eco friendly bag, you should get a grocery bag that you can reuse over and over again. If you can reuse your grocery bag for 2 or 3 years, then think of all the energy being saved. Every time you reuse your grocery bag, that’s one less bag that has to be produced.

For example, if you reuse your grocery bag over 3 years, and do your grocery shopping say, 4 times per week, that’s 624 less bags that have to be produced. If you use 2 grocery bags each time, that’s 1,248 less bags being produced. And that’s assuming the non-reusable bag is the same size. Most plastic grocery bags are much smaller than their eco-friendly/reusable counterparts (such as green bags, hemp bags, jute bags etc).

Summary

As with most things man-made, it’s hard finding anything that doesn’t have some level of impact on the environment. Bags made from natural fibers are usually best. And look for a bag you can reuse over and over again - for more than 2 or 3 years. That’s a lot of groceries that won’t require another plastic or paper bag.

My post about the environmental impact of plastic bags attracted a fair comment about the impact of paper bags on the environment. It seems that many people are using paper bags in the belief that they are better for the natural environment than plastic bags.

Unfortunately, that’s not necessarily true - paper bags are just as bad as plastic bags when it comes to the environment. In fact, some say paper bags are worse than plastic bags.

Some Facts and Figures

Here are some facts and figures according to reusable bags, regarding paper bags vs plastic bags:

• In 1999, 14 million trees were cut to produce the 10 billion paper grocery bags used by Americans that year alone
• Paper bags generate 70% more air and 50 times more water pollutants than plastic bags
• Paper bags use 4 times as much energy to construct compared to a plastic bag
• Paper bags use 84 times as much energy to recycle compared to a plastic bag
• Some studies have shown that paper bags generally don’t decompose any faster in landfills than plastic bags. This is apparently due to the lack of water, light and oxygen etc, in landfills.
• Paper bags use more space in landfills than plastic bags

So, according to these figures paper bags are much worse than plastic bags right? Sure does sound like it.

But then, you also need to take into account things such as size differences and usage patterns between the two bags. For example, paper grocery bags are usually larger than their plastic counter parts, so you need less of them. Also, there are different recycling rates between the two, which will affect the actual damage to the environment.

In 1990, Franklin and Associates completed a life-cycle energy analysis to consider all this and still concluded that the plastic bag was the better bag.

OK, so even though the plastic bag was the better bag, we all know how bad the plastic bag really is on the natural environment!

A Much Better Bag

So, the best thing to do is to avoid paper and plastic bags altogether. Instead, opt for a reusable bag made from a natural fiber.

Ideally, your reusable bag would be large enough to fit 5 times the groceries that a plastic bag would. Also, it would be so durable, that you can continue to reuse it for 2 - 3 years without needing to replace it.

Think of how many plastic or paper bags you’d be saving by doing that!