Pledge to stop using disposable produce bags at the grocery store

posted on causes.com by Jessica Dahl on April 9, 2012

I pledge to stop using the disposable produce bags at the grocery store!

The U.S. alone uses over 100 billion plastic bags and produces 31 million tons of plastic waste per year. Plastic bags are a huge problem to dispose of because each one takes up to a thousand years to degrade. Where are these billions of bags going in the meantime? 

 

Each square mile of the ocean contains 46,000 pieces of floating plastic, much of it drifting to the ocean floor where it will never degrade, or entangling sea animals who mistake it for food and often die trying to eat or escape from the debris.

Many people have adopted reusable grocery bags, but you can take the extra step of pledging to stop using smaller plastic bags for your produce and bulk goods.

- Buy small reusable bags (http://www.bagitmovie.com/shop.html or http://www.chicobag.com/ or http://www.reuseit.com/ have good options).

- Get crafty and try making your own bags out of old t-shirts, old cloth napkins or netting.

- Or, let your broccoli and kale and lemons and apples all hang out together in your reusable bag and in the crisper drawer. Your veggies and fruit won’t mind -- you’ll wash them before eating anyway.

By doing so, you’ll take a small action that has the big cumulative effect of reducing waste and protecting the environment.