Plastic bags replaced by Reusable Bags
I read with interest an article on the reduction of plastic bags within large retailers by charging a nominal fee for each plastic bag.
This is a step in the right direction, but the overall percentage reduction means there is still a long way to go. Hence, the focus must be to reuse bags whenever possible and put the emphasis on that, rather than using less plastic bags, as this does not address the problem head on.
Many initiatives have sprung up, namely:
- Make a charge for plastic bags, a small deterent, but when faced with a large trolly of shopping, guess what happens.
- Bag for life, strong plastic bags, but how many times can they really survive a fully loaded family shop?
- Natural fibre, addresses the Eco element but again the cost of ownership over 3 years will surprise many people.
- Reusable Bags, some are nylon based so appear not to be Eco friendly, but looking over the life of the bag, scores very highly.
So why have reusable bags not caught on?
1. An individual reusable bag can vary from £1 to £8.
2. They tend not to be practical, in terms of giving enough carrying capacity, at an affordable price.
3. Lots of single bags are difficult to store, the outer sheath can easily be misplaced.
4. Some of the bags are not considered to be stylish, therefore do no foster a positive attitude to using them.
5. Some of the bags cannot be folded away compactly, which is a problem when you need more than one.
Footprint Bag was designed to address the reusable shopping bag problems of price, style, robustness, and compactness. So the end of the plastic bag cannot come soon enough.
For more information visit: Footprint Bag
