The time it takes consumers to travel from a store to their home is the average life span of most plastic shopping bags. Yet the bags last in a landfill practically forever because they don't decompose.
I have begun carrying reusable canvas bags, but sometimes it's nearly impossible to avoid the plastic bag. So what should you do with your bags?
I recently found out that Wal-Mart (along with Whole Foods, Giant Eagle and some other grocery stores) now collects and recycles plastic shopping bags and plastic dry-cleaning bags. This news is music to my ears as plastic dry-cleaning bags have been an Achilles heel of mine for a while (see the posting, "A List of Things I Hate"). While I am by no means a Wal-Mart shopper or supporter, I do applaud this decision - even if the motivation behind it not pure.
So when you're not recycling your plastic bags, how do you reuse them? I found out from my friend Kelly last night that she saves and reuses dry-cleaning bags to pack clothes that wrinkle when traveling. Apparently wrinkling is caused by friction; so save those bags for packing for your next vacation.
2 comments:
My local grocery store - Safeway - does this too. It's nice to bring all the bags back there.
I've been knitting mine! I collected a list of links with knitting and crocheting patterns using plastic bags (as well as some other craft ideas). It's working quite well. I plan to make a large tote, and have used lots of plastic bags so far in the knitting! Thanks for a nice post. Cheers, Rachel
Post a Comment