A Review of Different Types of Reusable Bags

5/5/2020

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:

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.

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.

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.

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

8 Comments

Lily Rose link

2/12/2021 08:38:19 pm

Awesome post, your writing style is very attractive and informative. i read your article really these all five types is very good and I used laptop messenger bag, so now I need a tote bag. thanks for sharing this informative guide with us.

Taylor Hicken link

3/4/2021 08:22:48 pm

You made a good point when you shared that it is important to always remember to bring along your reusable bags when going for shopping. My mother just mentioned that she had to buy plastic bags every-time she goes to the supermarket to get her groceries. I will advise her to get some reusable bags and put them inside her car so she can always take them out and use whenever she is buying her groceries.

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3/9/2021 02:56:43 am

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Rebecca Gardner link

3/10/2021 11:27:13 am

Thanks for explaining that reusable bags need to be taken care of through regular cleaning and proper storage. My brother and his wife mentioned they want to find a charity that sells reusable tote bags so they can buy some for their family before summer. I think they'll appreciate your tips to help keep the new bags in good condition for as long as possible!

kate hansen link

4/9/2021 03:21:45 pm

I loved how you mentioned that recycled bags are strong and durable! My sister was telling me last night about how she is wanting to look into finding more products to help with being environmentally friendly, and she was wondering which ones she should get. I'll make sure to pass this information along to her so that she can look into getting reusable grocery bags!

Chris Pederson link

4/9/2021 03:23:45 pm

I think it would be awesome to get a grocery bag made out of recycled materials. Not only would you be helping the environment by not getting more bags, but you'd also be helping get rid of the ones that are already thrown away. A ton of people might easily overlook this but any reusable bag is better than getting disposable ones every time.

Beverly Minyard link

7/16/2021 02:16:48 pm

I like that you mentioned that plastic single-use bags are harmful to the environment. My wife and I are trying to do something to be more eco-friendly every month. Next month I want to buy a bunch of reusable grocery bags!

Mia Evans link

2/4/2022 12:47:42 am

Thanks for helping me understand that some disposable plastic bags can be environmentally-friendly compared to reusable bags at times. I hope that most companies would opt for this if that is the case when they need packaging for their products. If there are plastic packaging manufacturers that can offer this, it would be great for our environment and to ensure that our future generations can still have a healthy world to live in.