I was just getting some groceries from Safeway and my friend forgot her recyclable shopping bag she usually carries, and decides to buy one. There are so many varieties now, the lowest quality ones, to the ones with Microban, to one that even keeps your frozen food cold for extended periods of time.
So I decided to research on how environmentally friendly these bags are, since they claim to be so. Apparently, these bags are made from non-woven polypropylene, are designed to have a relatively long life but they are not designed to break down in the compost heap.
Polypropylene is a by product of oil-refining, which may in fact be much more harmful than the regular plastic bags that supermarkets give out, at the rate that everyone is purchasing these “green” bags everytime they forgot, creating a lot of non-biodegradable waste.
This also proves a point: that regular consumers with not much knowledge in sustainability, but would want to be, do not realize the impact this places on the environment. Furthermore, marketing for these “green” bags has developed into more of a fashion trend, rather than being more sustainable and less resource-taxing. So the question is, do we need to be marketing for the right reasons for people to adopt sustainable habits the right way?
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