I am one to contribute to the betterment of the environment but I believe in plastic. There has been a big push from environmentalists who have sold the idea of the reusable shopping bag for your groceries.
I understand the logic behind it by reducing the amount of plastic bags that end up in our landfills. But what they did not tell you was how to make sure you are using the bags correctly by washing them after every use. Check out this stat:
In a 2011 University of Arizona study of 87 reusable bags, researchers noted a large number of bacteria in nearly all the bags and E. coli in about 8 percent of the bags.
I started looking into this when I heard of the ban for January 2013 were all plastic bags will be banned from grocery stores, and how even the mayor of Toronto is against this.
I can’t say that I disagree, I do have reusable bags but they more often make great extensions of my luggage for going to the cottage then use for carrying groceries. I like the convenience of having bags available for me at the store, not just that I find more use for a plastic bag. (dog owners you know what I mean)
I say let’s go back to the good old paper bag, it is used once, and it is recyclable. I guess this means that we can also go back to someone bagging for us too!
Let me know what you think, paper, plastic or reusable?
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I wash my reusable bags. I use the ones from places like envriosax that are washable. For the kind that can’t be washed, I use those for my non-food purchases. Problem solved.
While I think paper bags have their uses, try carrying your groceries home in the rain in one. Try carrying multiple bags at the same time while trying to hold the hand of your three year old while crossing the road. So if you drive to the store, park in sheltered parking, drive home, park in a garage and can make multiple trips, then sure, paper bags are great. But if you walk or take transit and need to buy more than one bag of groceries, or live where there is precipitation then paper bags are not the solution.