According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the US consumes over 380 billion plastic bags and wraps every year.
Of these, only about one in every 200 plastic bags actually gets recycled.
When in the environment, plastic bags take between 400 and 1,000 years to decompose.
In a month of grocery shopping, the average family acquires approximately 60 plastic bags.
This morning, while we were at the grocery store, the bagger from our line mentioned that most people who claim to have reusable grocery bags forget them in the car...
In order to make mindfulness happen, consider the following two tips:
- Don't get a bag when you shop--this is especially easy when you have a small order--if you bought one item or a few small enough to carry, just carry them in your hand
and/ or
- Become a reusable bag person--you've seen them at the store, but it really does make a difference--you can keep the store's discount or some stores even donate the cost of a bag to charities
If you want to know a little more about how easy it is to transition to reusable bags, check out this video post called Making Mindfulness Tip of the Week 4: Reusable Grocery Bags.
We can stop demonstrating a demand for plastic bags and move away from the harm they do to our world.
EDIT on 7/6/2015: Check out this article regarding Hawaii's decision to be the first state to ban plastic grocery bags entirely! (California's ban is now facing a referendum this fall.) Progress!
Sources: ConservingNow, CleanUpLabels: Go Ahead--Try It!, Life
