The hidden dangers of shopping ‘green’
by Ali Birston ~ January 23rd, 2013. Filed under: Comm 486F.After reading a fellow classmate’s blog post about the underlying intentions of reusable shopping bags (“Green Selling, a Grocery Store’s best friend”) it got me thinking about the impact this new green trend is actually having on the environment. Considering how many times people forget their bags and how many extra bags people possess beyond what they need, is this actually making a difference or do people just do it for the status symbol?
I completely agree with Morgan’s argument that green bags are one easy way a company can make themselves appear to be sustainable. It is so true that most consumers have one too many reusable bags at home, so why are people still buying them? And more importantly, why are manufacturers still producing them despite the fact that the production, transportation, and distribution of them cannot be all that sustainable.
After doing some research of my own, I came across some more shocking news about these seemingly eco-friendly bags. They actually have the potential to kill you.
You’re probably wondering how on earth is that even possible? Well, the big problem, that probably will not come as a surprise to you, is that most people who re-use bags never bother to clean them. And, since only around a quarter of consumers use a separate bag for meat and veggies, who knows what sort of bacteria is being cross contaminated. Well, according to tests, coliform bacteria (mostly harmless) was found in 51% of the bags and E. coli (very risky) was found in 12% of the bags.
Don’t fret, washing the bags reduces bacteria by 99.9%, however, as the writer of a recent Bloomberg article on this topic brings up, is it worth it to risk our lives to save a couple of seabirds choking to death on our plastic bags?
In my opinion it really comes down to how much we as individuals are willing to sacrifice in the name of sustainability. And if it is something we strongly believe in, it is definitely worth understanding all the facts to make sure we are doing no harm to ourselves and to our mother earth.