I posted a story about the usefulness of reusable bags as a green solution to all of the plastic bags clogging all of our landfills and causing so much harm to the environment. I received an email stating that their opinion was that reusable bags aren't as green as we might be led to believe. I decided to look into the matter and this is what I found. It is very interesting.According to environmental consultant Catherine Greener ( a great name for an environmental consultant), not all reusable bags are created equal. In fact, Greener says that there are all different shades of green when dealing with reusable bags.
Check this out: Whole Foods makes a bag from mostly recycled plastic. Greener claims that this is ecologically better than bags made from PVC or with harsh chemical dyes, but that the bags are also shipped thousands of miles from overseas, so each of these bags is actually a mixed bag that confuses consumers and experts in the environmental field.
Wal-Mart started selling a bag last year made entirely from recycled bottles, but today if offers a cheaper thinner bag that uses less plastic. On the other hand, only a third of the plastic in the new blue bag is recycled and the bag only lasts about half as long as the old one.
Bob Liliend, editor of Use Less Stuff answers the question: Even if we eliminate billions of grocery bags from the market how much good will it do? "I hate to say it, but not much," Lilienfield says. In the big picture, he says, the big fuss around shopping bags is really just a distraction.
"The bag is not the environmental bogey-person that everybody thinks it is," he says. "If you look at the entire grocery package that you bought, the bag may account for 1 to 2 percent of the environmental impact.
"The other packaging may account for 7 percent. Ninety percent is accounted for by the products you buy. That's where all the environmental impact is."
As people begin to think more about their shopping bags, Lilienfield says he hopes they'll also start to think more about what's in the bag as well.
I told you this was interesting and I hope it makes you think about. Thanks to the person who emailed me and made me think.
"The bag is not the environmental bogey-person that everybody thinks it is," he says. "If you look at the entire grocery package that you bought, the bag may account for 1 to 2 percent of the environmental impact.
"The other packaging may account for 7 percent. Ninety percent is accounted for by the products you buy. That's where all the environmental impact is."
As people begin to think more about their shopping bags, Lilienfield says he hopes they'll also start to think more about what's in the bag as well.
I told you this was interesting and I hope it makes you think about. Thanks to the person who emailed me and made me think.
