Plastic Bags: The Bad and Good News

Ok, the bad news first: In a relatively short amount of time, our socially normalized reliance on single-use plastic grocery bags has created a host of environmental issues including clogged drains and subsequent flooding, groundwater contamination, crowded landfills, and debris that threatens the ocean’s ecosystem (learn more about the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch,” a plastic soup collection area in the ocean 3 times the size of Texas, here). Did you know that Americans alone use 2 million single-use plastic bags per minute? Use is up to 500 billion to 1 trillion per minute worldwide, with no plan to halt production any time soon! YIKES. The average use of a single plastic grocery bag lasts only for 12 minutes. Billions end up as trash. I used to think that plastic grocery store bags were recyclable. They are not. In fact, Curbie and other recycling facilities refer to plastic bags as “Tanglers” that, if caught up in their machinery, result in very costly repairs.

How can we know all of this, continue to consume, and/or turn a blind eye as grocers and retailers across the globe proliferate the earth with these freebies of the shopping world? In a sense, they’re free. Never has a free commodity been so costly.​

(For more info on the scope of the problem, check out this infographic. Then keep scrolling for the good news!)

The good news: we don’t have any reason that we have to use these bags! Quitting the plastic grocery bags is one of the most straightforward, accessible, affordable steps we can all take to reduce the plastics that we consume day in and day out. I do understand the argument that many of us re-purpose these bags and use them again for something else – think poop bag or trash can liner. For these we now have truly biodegradable options. These days, I keep a stash of re-useable (mostly polyester, I hear they’re the most eco-friendly) bags in my pantry, in both cars, in my stroller, and re-use the same 10 bags over and over again until they fall apart. Then I make quilts out of them. Ha ha, just kidding. I’m sure that someone does, though, and we should meet that person!

I’m reminded of Maya Angelou, who wisely taught, "Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”  Well, we indisputably know better. Let’s do better, friends.

​Hilary Drake, Founder
Mind Your Plastic