Day 75: Reusable Bags

My son Keston recently lost his first two teeth and has had his money burning a hole in his pocket. He knew he couldn't spend any until after Christmas and he thought he would have to wait a long time because errand day was yesterday and we didn't go to a store with toys. But, I had to pick him up from school today because our carpool was unavailable and my husband was home to watch the other boys, so I surprised him and took him to shop all by himself. He was thrilled! When we got to the store we decided we didn't need a cart, we could just hold what we bought, but as we walked in there was a display of reusable shopping bags. I have collected a few over time (and am trying to collect enough to have for grocery shopping)...but today we grabbed one that folds up into itself like a little pouch, which we both thought was pretty cool, to use for our treasures. He loved carrying it through the store and it was really convenient to hold our 6 items. We just dumped our goods on the counter at checkout, bought our stuff and repacked our new bag full and carried it away. I love that it folds up so nicely, I will be able to keep in my purse so I always have a reusable bag handy!

Here are some reasons to Use Reusable Bags from a website called Reuse this Bag:
And here is a link to their latest list of 25 Reasons Why to Go Reusable, which was too large to post on the blog




There are countless reasons why you as an every day American should start to use reusable shopping bags. We have studied article after article, paper after paper, and blog after blog. Other than the fact that Reusethisbag.com makes the coolest reusable bags around, you are now on the cutting edge of a unique Grassroots movement that is sweeping the nation! It is our belief that within five years over 90% of the country will be using a reusable grocery bag! Its time to wake up and smell the coffee we say!

Here are a few of our favorite facts in regards to why we are urging you to make the very important choice to put down your paper and plastic and protect your Earth today! It isn’t too late. In fact, we are just getting started!

FACT: The largest opposition to the ban of plastic bags comes from the petroleum and plastics industries and of course, consumers that don’t want to change their habits.

FACT: Effective July 1, 2010. Los Angeles County Shoppers can either bring their own bags or pay 25 cents for a paper or biodegradable bag

FACT: Ireland imposed a tax on plastic grocery bags in 2002, San Francisco became the first U.S. city to ban conventional plastic grocery bags, in 2007, and Los Angeles followed suit in 2010

FACT: plastic is the largest source of ocean litter. The second most abundant ocean pollution, is cigarettes.

FACT: Ocean debris worldwide kills at least 1 million sea birds and 100,000 mammals each year, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association has estimated. The litter is most severe in the East Asian seas region, which includes countries such as China with a population 1.3 billion people and where, according to UN figures, almost 60 percent of men smoke.

FACT:  4 trillion to 5 trillion: Number of non-degradable plastic bags used worldwide annually.

FACT:  About 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are used worldwide every year

FACT: Australians were using nearly 7 billion bags a year, and nearly 1.2 billion bags a year were being passed out free in Ireland before government restrictions, according to government estimates.

FACT: Plastic industry trade associations were unable to provide estimates of plastic bag use in the United States. However, based on studies of plastic bag use in other nations, the environmental group Californians Against Waste estimates Americans use 84 billion plastic bags annually.

FACT: The first plastic sandwich bags were introduced in 1957. Department stores started using plastic bags in the late 1970s and supermarket chains introduced the bags in the early 1980s.

FACT: About 100,000 whales, seals, turtles and other marine animals are killed by plastic bags each year worldwide, according to Planet Ark, an international environmental group.

FACT: Last September, more than 354,000 bags -- most of them plastic -- were collected during an international cleanup of costal areas in the United States and 100 other countries, according to the Ocean Conservancy

The facts are staggering and we could go on and on as to why it is so imperative that you stop using paper and plastic bags now.

• Reusable bags save trees 
• Reusable bags save water 
• Reusable bags save gas and oil 
• Reusable bags help air pollution 
• Reusable bags help our oceans 
• Reusable bags help our sea creatures 
• Reusable bags save 700+ bags over the span of their lifetime! 
• Reusable bags help our families!