People Need to Use Reusable Shopping Bags

In some areas of the United States people are given the choice to bring in and use their reusable bags or to pay for the convenience of using the store provided paper or plastic bags for their purchases. Some people find reusable bags as an inconvenience, especially if they do not have one on hand for times they need to pick up a couple of items from a store. Reusable bags can be small enough to have on one’s person. The use of reusable shopping bags reduces the waste of plastic store bags in landfills and water systems. There can be a compromise; some stores offer the reusable bags at the checkout area of the store offering credit to the consumer, as well as offering promotions in support of using the reusable shopping bags. One major cause for promoting reusable shopping bags is to reduce our carbon footprint.

The importance of reusable shopping bags is they are convenient and will help our planets environment. The problem with not using the reusable bags is that you may be faced with a decision at the store checkout register of being charged for the use of the stores plastic or paper bags for your items. If you choose not to purchase the stores bags, then you as the customer would have to carry your products out of the store by hand.

In the past people have been used to having the convenience of using the store provided plastic recyclable bags and then just throwing them away. Little did people know what the store plastic bags were made of; people thought they were recycled from plastic soda and water bottles. Now people are aware of the inconvenient truth that they are really made from petroleum (Erdos, 2012). Even worse, some plastic bags contain high amounts of lead; several famous chain stores were called out for providing plastic bags with high amounts of lead while the consumer was unaware (PR Newswire US, 2011).

Many people say they have reasons why it is an inconvenience to use the reusable bags, some complaints are they are big and bulky, not fashionable designs, not sturdy enough, or it is hard to remember to use them. In truth reusable shopping bags that are available at the stores check out areas are made of non-woven polypropylene, which is a strong, lightweight, and durable plastic (Nathalie, 2010). That means the reusable shopping bag are machine washable and will last much longer than the store plastic bags (Nathalie, 2010). If the reusable bags are no longer usable they can be recycled, by placing them in proper recyclable containers at stores or a residential recyclable container.

There are several circumstances where reusable bags seem inconvenient. If a person decides to make a short trip to the store to pick up a few items the reusable bag may seem like an extra time wasting step; but this can easily be resolved by having a small reusable bag in a purse, satchel, or in ones’ vehicle and before you go into the store to double check and bring the reusable bag in with you. Second, it is understandable that people like the convenience of being able to run in pick up items and put them into the store plastic bags. Unfortunately the reality is that most of these plastic store bags end up in the garbage or littered on the side of roads or in water areas.

Education and public outreach can overcome many of the obstacles that people have to choosing reusable bags. The first step is to identify what these store plastic bags are doing to our environment by explaining how the bags are made, how they are filling up our landfills and not breaking down in a timely manner. Consumers should also be made aware of how the bags are being littered and ending up in water areas, like lakes, streams, and water drains causing damage to both animals and our water resources.

Most of the store plastic bags are created from petroleum oil instead of being mostly from recycled content. The petroleum oil used to produce 14 plastic bags can drive a car for one mile. Another fact is that it takes many barrels of oil to produce the billion plastic bags that are used the United States each year ("Why Use Reusable Shopping Bags"), this is important when our nation is taking about a crisis of having more cars on the road using a lot of petroleum when people should be in the mind set of saving fuel. Second, the plastic store bags that are not being put into recyclable containers and thrown away into trash and filling up landfills can take anywhere from 15 to 1000 years to decompose (Erdos, 2012). Third, tossed plastic store bags kill birds, turtles, and other sea animals by ingesting plastic bags that are discarded ("Why Use Reusable Shopping Bags").

Some stores in the United States offer the reusable bags at the checkout area at a reduced cost and sometimes even offer an instant rebate on the checkout bill for customers that bring them back. Another way to promote reusable bags is to have stores post at both incoming and outgoing areas of the stores of their reusable bag promotions. For example the United Supermarkets in Texas offered a promotion in its 47-store food retailers in October by providing pink reusable bags, Eddie Owens a spokesman for United claimed “we rolled out 20,000, and they were gone in a matter of days” (Hamstra, 2008). This promotion was a choice for both the business and the consumer, and the consumer took advantage of the promotion. The customer can then decide if they want to use the reusable bags, pay for the cost of convenience of plastic store bags, or not use any bag at all. Promotions such as these can serve both the advertising interests of the company as well as the higher interests of both the company and the customer.

The major importance of remembering and using the reusable bags is to reduce our carbon footprint; if you have made the switch to using reusable shopping bags, then applaud yourself for being environmentally aware (Erdos, 2012).

Annotated Bibliography

Erdos, Joseph. "Why You Should Use A Reusable Grocery Bag." Huffpost Taste. The Huffington Post, 9 Apr 2012. Web. 20 Apr 2014.

Joseph Erdos article explains reasons why one should use a reusable grocery bag, from what is contained in plastic bags to what the reusable bags are made from.

Hamstra, Mark. "Supermarkets Make Most Of Reusable Bags." SN: Supermarket News 56.28 (2008): 18. Business Source Complete. Web. 13 Apr. 2014

In the article written by Mark Hamstra, he explains how one grocery store chain in Texas, took it upon them to promote the reusable pink bags supporting the Breast Cancer Awareness and logo and donating a portion of the proceeds to the fund raising organization. The reusable bags were sold out in a matter of days having to have the company order more for their promotion during the month.

Nathalie, Weinstein. "Commentary: Plastic Grocery Bags Are Bad, But Are The Reusable Bags Any Better?." Daily Journal Of Commerce (Portland, OR) (2010): Regional Business News. Web. 13 Apr. 2014.

This commentary explains how Portland, Oregon became the next big city to ban plastic store bags and the suggestion of using the reusable shopping bags, what they are made out from, and a simple reminder to oneself of how to remember to use the reusable bags.

PR, Newswire. "Excessive Amounts of Lead Found in Reusable Grocery Bags Supplied by Major Retailers, New Testing Shows." PR Newswire US 24 Jan 2011: Regional Business News. Web. 13 Apr. 2014.

The article from the PR Newswire exposes national popular store chains that some of their bags contained led. The article also stated while legislation is trying to be passed to ban or tax paper and plastic bags that advocates for consumer choice suggested that customers should have a choice when to use plastic or paper for groceries.

R. Z., A. "The Dirty Truth About Reusable Grocery Bags." Popular Mechanics 190.5 (2013): 12. Academic Search Premier. Web. 13 Apr. 2014.

The news brief put out by R.Z.A. states that consumers should know the truth about canvas bags are good and it would cut down on plastic bag waste; the news brief also points out how canvas bags may be a breeding found for bacteria.

"Stock Up Now: Reusable Grocery Bags." Natural Foods Merchandiser 31.9 (2010): 13. Business Source Complete. Web. 13 Apr. 2014.

This scanned document shows the different type of reusable shopping bags that are available and the percentage of the bags biodegradable compostable materials each type of bag has. While in the past shoppers had only the net type reusable bags, now a days the consumer has a choice of what type of reusable bags to have.

"Why Use Reusable Shopping Bags." Reuse This Bag. ReuseThisBag.com. Web. 20 Apr 2014.

This article gives many different reasons why one should use reusable shopping bags, it list facts about store plastic bags, the stats of animals hurt by plastic bags, and how long it takes for plastic bags to break down in a landfill.