Each year the United States uses approximately 30 billion plastic bags which consume a huge amount of natural resources to produce.
These single use bags will take anything up to a thousand years to degrade if they go into landfill.
There are the bags we get at the grocery store, the ones we load lunches in, the ones other retail items come in and everything that is packaged by the manufacturer. The better news is that many of these bags now come from recycled products and with any luck, in the recycle process, will return to the start and be recycled into more bags that we will utilize once more.
Exactly what should the average American consumer do when those bags start to pile up? It doesn't take long for the stack to begin to form, possibly 2 or 3 journeys to the grocery store for a weekly shop and you could wind up with 15 or more bags each week. How can keep the build up of plastic bags to a minimum?
It there are animals in your home you can reuse these left over bags from the grocery shop when clearing out the litter box, or when taking the dog for a walk. Just having the bags around when you need to touch something you actually do not wish to can save the chance of triggering some horrible infection, and it helps to keep the home and neighbourhood clean.
You can reuse the bags as lunch bags, instead of the old way of utilizing a brand-new “brown bag” for putting your lunch in. It might not appear like a fantastic effort however each and every effort, no matter how small can have an effect.
You can even carry a few of your collection of plastic bags in your car so that you have one to hand when popping into a store, instead of collecting yet another bag to carry your shopping home in.
Another way to cut down on the recycling when shopping is to have a designated bag that can be used over and over again for the groceries. There are many outlets now that sell custom made shopping bags that may last you many years. Just carry one of these bags with you at all times and the problem of collecting even more plastic bags is almost at an end.
Another option to get rid of the 'one bag, one use' mentality is gaining popularity. A store will sell you a 'lifetime' reusable plastic bag that you use every time you shop. When the bag gets too worn or damaged to continue using the store takes the old one back and gives you a new one. The old one is recycled, and you still have your lifetime bag.
This method has the potential to save many hundreds of one use plastic bags over it's lifetime.
Entirely getting rid of the need for the plastic bag is a huge step toward development when it comes to recycling.
The bottom line is becoming aware of exactly what we make use of and how such products can be reused. No matter where you go shopping or what purchases you make, if, at the end of the day you're surrounded by plastic bags, there's always a method to obtain more usage from them.
Managing Water Quality 