A Review of Different Types of Reusable Bags

By Meghan Ibach

​With so many ‘environmentally-friendly’ options for reusable bags, it’s hard to know what to pick. Each type of reusable shopping bag has a series of pros and cons associated with it. In this post, I’m going to highlight a few of the pros and cons of the most common reusable bag options.

Most of us already own several shopping bags; the first trick is remembering to bring them along when you leave the house! In order for reusable bags to work, we must commit to using them as often as possible. No matter what type of bag you choose, remember to use it. 

Clean your bags frequently, dry, and store them properly. By taking good care of your reusable bags, you can keep them for years to come. If you already have a plethora of bags, it may be time to stop taking in new ones. We love free stuff (myself included!), but sometimes enough is enough!

Here are some Pros and Cons of the most common reusable bags to help you decide what should stay in your home:
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Canvas/Cotton

Pros	Cons
Made from natural fiber	​Must be reused many times to negate the  resources required to make it
Decompostable	Takes a ton of water to grow cotton
Durable​	Consume resources like water, arable soil, and electricity to create
Machine washable​	Uses virgin materials
Nice, soft material

 

• A note on the Cons: A 2011 UK report and a 2018 Danish report found cotton totes must be reused 131 to 20,000 times more than a disposable plastic bag to negate the resources their creation consumes
• Cotton takes a lot of water to grow. Hemp bags are a great alternative option for strength, durability; they use way less water to produce. 

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Polyester

Pros	Cons
Versatile material	Made from plastic
Resistant to mold and mildew​	Uses virgin materials
Compactable	Plastic is a non-renewable byproduct that profits the petroleum industry

• Typically made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET), either woven or non-woven. Think of a bag that stuffs inside itself. ​

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Recycled PET

Pros	Cons
Made from recycled post-consumer containers	Uses energy in transportation, sorting, recycling, and manufacturing
Supports market for post-consumer materials	Still a form of plastic
Requires ⅔ less energy to manufacture than virgin PET bags	Non-biodegradable and non-compostable
Strong and durable	Product of the petrochemical industry

• I’m a big fan of buying products made from recycled materials. We need to prove there is a demand for these kinds of goods!

Polypropylene

Pros	Cons
Low cost	Non-biodegradable and non-compostable
Somewhat durable	Product of plastic industry
Can be made of recycled materials	Eventual fate: the landfill

• Personally, I’ve had more holes develop in these kinds of bags than any other, especially in the non-woven type. Woven polypropylene is stronger than non-woven. ​

Some research shows disposable plastic bags may be, technically, more environmentally-friendly than certain reusable bags when accounting for the energy and materials required to make each type of bag. However, we need to consider what kind of environment we want to have. Those studies did not take into account the overall environmental toll that single-use plastic bags have on our world. Plastic bags litter streets, waterways, and natural environments. They make their way into the bellies of marine life and into our own food products. 

Overall, the best course of action is reducing the amount of all products we consume. Ask yourself, do you need a bag in the first place? Could you just as easily carry the items in your hands, purse, or a box the store would already be discarding? Our goal is to live in a healthier, more sustainable world and every single person is a part of the effort towards going plastic-free. 
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P.S. Is paper better? Check out this great graphic comparing paper and plastic. 















​Meghan Ibach is the Sustainability and Marketing Manager for UNC Asheville Dining Services. She believes in collective power to radically change systems, and that we vote with our purchases and choices every day. She’s part of the Plastic Reduction Task Force to help reduce plastic waste in our community, hoping we can all make a greener, brighter future together.
 

Sources:
www.ecomena.org/reusable-fabric-shopping-bags/ 
https://www2.mst.dk/Udgiv/publications/2018/02/978-87-93614-73-4.pdf 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2007/10/03/GR2007100301385.html

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