Carrier Bags are Rubbish
Written by selfsufficientish   
In the Republic of Ireland (Eire) they have created a 15 cent 'plastax' to cut down on them; in Bangladesh and Taiwan they have introduced a ban as they were destroying the environment and clogging up the drainage system; and in South Africa there are so many floating around the cities skies that they are known as the national flower. Plastic carrier bags - they are everywhere, in fact there are more in existence now than there are people in the world.

Avoiding and reusing plastic carrier bags 

We at selfsufficientish would like to start a campaign to STOP USING SO MANY BAGS. Some common sense ways you can lower your plastic bag usage include:

- Take a rucksack, basket or reusable bag to the supermarket with you. - Ask yourself 'do I really need that bag?' Would it trouble you so much to carry that CD home in your hand? Do you have another use for that
tiny little bag?
- When a shop assistant asks you if you need a hand packing, say NO. They use no end of bags.
- If you are getting over run with all the bags you keep under the sink take them to your local charity shop as most will be more than happy to
take them.
- Keep a couple of bags in your hand bag (or purse if you are American), you never know when you might need them.
- Americans, when they ask you "paper or plastic", pick PAPER.
- Re-use your bags as often as possible. This means if you are going shopping you should always have a few bags with you.

What's wrong with using plastic shopping bags?

The over use of plastic carrier bags is one of my pet hates and if we at selfsufficientish can help to reduce there scourge of the planet by just a tiny amount, I shall be happier. Friends of the Earth states that the amount of plastic packaging waste from UK homes is about 1,000,000 tonnes. With landfill sites getting fuller, then should we not be doing something? About 80% of our waste could be reused or recycled. Carrier bags only make up a small percentage of this waste, but every little helps.

 

Discuss this article visit the Recycling forum

For links visit the weblinks section