When it is about waste disposal, the world is facing a catastrophe. Most of the waste comprises bottles, plastic bags, and another plastic packaging. Every year 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are being consumed. Another shocking fact is per minute, approximately one million plastic bags are used. So, environmentally conscious citizens are finding ways to decrease these huge numbers. A great place to begin is to opt for reusable produce bags or eco-friendly bags. These bags have multiple names like cotton produce bags, mesh produce bags and compostable produce bags. These bags are very helpful for saving the environment and have numerous benefits.
Reusable Produce Bags
These bags are made from mesh, muslin, and other compostable/recyclable substances. You can easily wash these bags and can be used multiple times. Generally, normal plastic produce bags are thrown out after a single-use. If you are switching to reusable produce bags, you will be contributing to reducing the consumption of one-time-use plastic bags. These bags are more convenient and use the bags for different purposes. These produce or mesh bags are durable enough that they can be used for several years. They can able to hold more weight than regular paper or plastic bags and provides a better grip. The produce bags are termed reusable means you can wash, clean, dry, and use them again and again, just like a new bag. Let us now discuss four reasons why everyone should be using these bags.
Benefits of the Produce Bags vs plastic bags at the grocery store
The produce bags made from organic cotton are eco-friendly as they are biodegradable in nature, and unlike plastic bags, they will not take a thousand years for degradation. In the market you will get reusable plastic bags but after using it for a few times, they lose their carrying capacity and strength. On the other hand, cotton produces reusable bags that have more durability. You should know that organic cotton is better for producers, workers, consumers and above all, the health of the planet. Plastic bags are non-biodegradable and manufactured from petroleum. The production cost of these bags is about $4 billion every year, which is a huge amount for something that ultimately pollutes the environment. When using reusable produce bags, you will be happy to know that they are made up of muslin, cotton or even recycle PET (plastics that are used for making water bottles). These are easily recycled and no requirement of production in huge numbers thereby reducing the overall production cost.
Bigger Impact on the Environment
Both plastic and reusable produce bags have a huge impact on the environment. The only difference is one creates a positive impact while the one is negative. The use of reusable plastic bags or single-use plastics results in the pollution of the nearby landscape. As plastic bags take years for decomposing, they ruin the soil, fill up landfills, pollute water bodies and also prevent decomposition. On the other hand, mesh and cotton produce bags can decrease the consumption of plastic bags and act as a crucial alternative. When organic cotton produce bags are no longer required, they can be safely composted, thereby leaving no trace behind.
Other things you can use reusable produce bags for
You can use the bags for storing various items and use them at grocery stores to carry groceries and vegetables. The advantage is you can able to carry more load than the plastic bag of the same size. You can easily put the produce bags for storing items in the cupboards, cabinets, and fridge. Typically, these types of bags can be used similarly, like a plastic bag, but with less environmental impact.
When using reusable bags do people really create a less environmental impact
There are lots of arguments that the manufacturing of these bags degrades the environment as much as plastic bags. But, actually, this is not the case. Basically, when manufacturing everything, it does make a carbon footprint, making a reusable product that will not end up in the landfill will be reducing the product’s impact in the coming years. As more of us change our lifestyle by using reusable bags, tehre3 will be less demand for plastic, and ultimately there will be a decrease in pollution.