• Pollination Celebration
  • Donate
  • Hard 2 Recycle
  • Get Involved
    • Internships
    • Sponsorship
    • Volunteer
    • Wish List
    • Youth Environmental Leadership Program >
      • YELP Staff & Alumni
      • How to Apply
  • Programs
    • Bee City USA Asheville >
      • Native Pollinator Plants and Nurseries
      • Pollinator Garden Certification
      • Pollinator Gardens & Meadows Project
    • Education
    • Urban Forestry >
      • Cool Green Asheville
      • Food Tree Project
      • RRI
      • Tree Nursery
      • Treasured Trees >
        • Treasured Trees Calendar
    • Rivers & Roads >
      • Adopt-a-Street
      • Clean Streams Day
      • Cleanup Supply Stations
      • Trash Trout
    • Waste Reduction >
      • Asheville Bag Monster
      • Composting Information
      • Flip Your Lid
      • Plastics Reduction Task Force
      • Recycling Information
  • Upcoming Events
  • About
    • Job Openings
    • History
    • Staff/ Contact
  • Newsletter
  • Blog Roll
    • Latest News
    • Mind Your Plastic May
    • Protect our Pollinators
    • Voice for the Trees
ASHEVILLE GREENWORKS
  • Pollination Celebration
  • Donate
  • Hard 2 Recycle
  • Get Involved
    • Internships
    • Sponsorship
    • Volunteer
    • Wish List
    • Youth Environmental Leadership Program >
      • YELP Staff & Alumni
      • How to Apply
  • Programs
    • Bee City USA Asheville >
      • Native Pollinator Plants and Nurseries
      • Pollinator Garden Certification
      • Pollinator Gardens & Meadows Project
    • Education
    • Urban Forestry >
      • Cool Green Asheville
      • Food Tree Project
      • RRI
      • Tree Nursery
      • Treasured Trees >
        • Treasured Trees Calendar
    • Rivers & Roads >
      • Adopt-a-Street
      • Clean Streams Day
      • Cleanup Supply Stations
      • Trash Trout
    • Waste Reduction >
      • Asheville Bag Monster
      • Composting Information
      • Flip Your Lid
      • Plastics Reduction Task Force
      • Recycling Information
  • Upcoming Events
  • About
    • Job Openings
    • History
    • Staff/ Contact
  • Newsletter
  • Blog Roll
    • Latest News
    • Mind Your Plastic May
    • Protect our Pollinators
    • Voice for the Trees
Picture
Do you ever find yourself at the French Broad River staring at piles of plastic litter wondering what you can do to stop this?  Asheville GreenWorks and our sister page, Going Plastic Free, are here to help you make this happen! Mind Your Plastic May is a month-long campaign to inform you about the grave social and environmental harms that ensue from plastic waste and equip you with the knowledge to reduce plastic in your own life.  

All month long, we will be sharing plastic reduction tips, volunteer opportunities to address plastic waste, educational materials featuring local Asheville businesses, and much more. We aim to foster knowledge and encourage mindfulness around plastic consumption and disposal for individuals and business owners. This month, we hope you will follow us on Facebook and Instagram, where you will gain valuable knowledge about how to refuse, reduce, reuse, and recycle plastics, as well as learn about local waste reduction efforts.

Join our 
Race2Reduce and commit to decreasing your plastic usage for the entire month of May. Sign up here to join the challenge and earn points to win a $25/$50/$75 gift card to Ware!

Many thanks to the businesses and restaurants who supported this effort and are working hard to reduce their own plastic waste. #goingplasticfree

Join us in our love for the planet as we
 address and defeat our global plastic addition.
Donate now for a plastic-free future
Mind Your Plastic May is meant to encourage and challenge us in our journey to live plastic free. These posts are created by GreenWorks staff. If you've found these posts helpful and encouraging, please consider making a donation to support this work. If you have any questions, please email [email protected]

Cleaning Reusable Shopping Bags

5/6/2020

2 Comments

 
Picture
Reusable shopping bags are a win for the environment and the way of the future.  Every time one of these bags is reused less plastic ends up in our landfills and waterways. Reusable bags might be a lot cleaner for the environment, but they still need to be washed. Washing reusable bags is an easy task and protects you and the people who handle your bags. Here are some helpful guidelines to keep your bags clean and ready for use.

Cloth and Canvas Bags
The best and easiest way to clean canvas or cloth bags is in the washing machine. First, shake out the bags to remove bits of food, dirt, and other debris.  Use a hot water cycle and detergent.  You can toss them in with other items, such as towels or linens. After washing, either line-dry the bags or use a gentle cycle dryer.

Plastic Bags
Wash anything made from recycled plastic (a.k.a. polypropylene or PET bags) by hand in warm soapy water, then spray or wipe down inside and out with a recommended disinfectant. Don't forget about the inner and outer seams, where pathogens can accumulate.  Allow the bag to dry completely before storing or using it.

Nylon Bags
Flip the bags inside out.  Wash by hand in warm soapy water or in your machine in a gentle setting to prevent the bag from coming apart. Then, let your bags air dry. Hand washing and air drying your bags will extend their lifetime, thereby decreasing the bags’ ecological impact.

And There’s More! For safe reusable bags follow these guidelines:
  • Use a separate bag for raw products like meat and poultry. Raw foods should be kept away from ready-to-eat foods at all times.
  • Use separate reusable bags for food items and non-food items (e.g., household cleaners, detergents, etc.). This prevents cross-contamination of chemicals and keeps your food safer!
  • Do not store bags in your car or garage.  The warm environment can encourage the growth of bacteria.
  • At this time, there is no evidence to suggest COVID-19 spreads via reusable bags. The CDC still recommends cleaning shopping bags after each use, because other diseases are known to spread more readily on surfaces than COVID-19.

​


​








​
Terry Scholl is a member of the Asheville GreenWorks Plastic Reduction Task Force. "I love our lands and oceans which unfortunately are being destroyed by throwaway plastics.  I want to do my part to reduce single-use products, especially plastic bottles and grocery bags.  Will you help?​"

2 Comments
Mike Stevenson
5/10/2020 09:43:00 am

I appreciate the information and clear directions. Very readable and concise. Using my own bags requires me to bag my own groceries at the supermarket I use - which makes it easier to bag based on the guidelines presented here. I don't mind that, but it does slow down the line at the register - which encourages me to rush - not a good thing. I must self-discipline!

Reply
Afton Jackson link
6/1/2022 11:49:28 pm

Making use of Nylon bags sounds a lot easier than I thought it would be, so I'm glad I read about that. I'm part of a family that does everything they can to stay eco-friendly, so reading how easy this is could be a big step forward for us. I'll go and ask around for any shopping centers that offer reusable bags with this material.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    AuthorS

    Staff from Asheville GreenWorks, volunteers from the Plastic Reduction Task Force, as well as other guest writers who are advocates and friends.

    Archives

    May 2022
    May 2021
    May 2020
    May 2019
    April 2019

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed


​Asheville GreenWorks is a 501(c)3 non-profit environmental organization, governed by a Board of Directors. Established in 1973, GreenWorks mission is to inspire, equip and mobilize individuals and communities to take care of the places we love to live.
  • Pollination Celebration
  • Donate
  • Hard 2 Recycle
  • Get Involved
    • Internships
    • Sponsorship
    • Volunteer
    • Wish List
    • Youth Environmental Leadership Program >
      • YELP Staff & Alumni
      • How to Apply
  • Programs
    • Bee City USA Asheville >
      • Native Pollinator Plants and Nurseries
      • Pollinator Garden Certification
      • Pollinator Gardens & Meadows Project
    • Education
    • Urban Forestry >
      • Cool Green Asheville
      • Food Tree Project
      • RRI
      • Tree Nursery
      • Treasured Trees >
        • Treasured Trees Calendar
    • Rivers & Roads >
      • Adopt-a-Street
      • Clean Streams Day
      • Cleanup Supply Stations
      • Trash Trout
    • Waste Reduction >
      • Asheville Bag Monster
      • Composting Information
      • Flip Your Lid
      • Plastics Reduction Task Force
      • Recycling Information
  • Upcoming Events
  • About
    • Job Openings
    • History
    • Staff/ Contact
  • Newsletter
  • Blog Roll
    • Latest News
    • Mind Your Plastic May
    • Protect our Pollinators
    • Voice for the Trees