Plastic shopping bags have gained attention lately because of their harmful nature and ubiquity in our lives. Despite such public awareness, I am appalled to see most shoppers entering grocery stores empty-handed, only to nonchalantly leave the store with countless plastic bags. Adding insult to injury, we often double-bag or partially fill bags. The lasting environmental impact of these bags is frequently overlooked because using them is a matter of routine. Paper bags are proposed as an alternative, and although they are biodegradable, they still take energy to produce, transport and supply to consumers. This careless use of natural resources has negative environmental and financial consequences that are borne by us, the consumers.
We find ourselves scorning foreign environmental quagmires, yet we fail to recognize that we as a nation are one of the most wasteful countries in the world. Let’s use our good conscience and judgment by remembering to use reusable shopping bags (in fact any bag will do). It only takes a small change in our behavior to move away from our dependence on single-use plastic or paper bags. All it takes to reduce your waste is a bit of thought.
