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THE NEW MODE OF SHOPPING BAGS…NOT YOUR GRANDMOTHER’S BURLAP! Trends often come and go, but I see this one as continuing to evolve into a real gem.

WHY NOT USE PLASTIC BAGS?

There is no reason to use throw-away plastic bags at the grocery store. They’re made from petroleum oil, (it takes 12 million barrels of oil to produce the estimated 100 billion plastic bags Americans use each year), and they harm our environment. It is estimated that 1 million birds and thousands of turtles and other sea animals die each year after ingesting discarded plastic bags! Plastic bags make up more than 10 percent of washed-up debris that pollutes the U.S. coastline.

WHAT BAGS SHOULD WE USE?

Not only do most stores provide paper bags, which are recyclable, they also sell sturdy, reusable bags at a low cost. Don’t we all have reusable bags at home stuffed away in a closet we can hand the cashier for our purchases? Keeping a small box or bag full of reusable grocery bags in your vehicle saves on trying to figure out what to do with the avalanche of paper & plastic bags we all have at home, and keeps that avalanche from growing bigger. Those lightweight green produce bags are great to save, stuff into a Ziploc, and take along on your next shopping trip to be used again when the broccoli is on sale!

WHAT CAN BE DONE?

More and more supermarkets have discontinued plastic bags, switched to paper-only shopping bags, and have set up discount incentives for customers to bring their own reusable bag. We would like to see this happen on our local level. Ireland was the first European country to impose a tax on plastic bags. The nation has decreased its plastic shopping bag use by 90 percent since 2002, cutting overall plastic bag use by 1.08 billion.

BE A TREND-SETTER

The challenge for all of us is to be less wasteful and more aware of our care-less habits. We can dig out our collection of reusable bags and establish better shopping protocol. It is better for the environment, makes us feel better, reduces the stockpile at home, and Grandma would be proud of us.