Kicking the plastic habit

When we shop, do we really think about the plastic bags we use to bag up our groceries or a new pair of jeans? If most people knew that putting that cereal box into a plastic bag contributed to over 380 billion bags of waste in the country per year, they would think again.

Plastic bags are not just impractical (most fall apart after one use), but they severely damage the environment. They are not biodegradable and kill thousands of wildlife annually, along with being an eyesore across the country.

While the reusable bag phenomenon is still new in the US, Ireland jumped on the reusable platform years ago. On March 4, 2002, the Irish government enacted the Plastic Bag Levy or “PlasTax,” where a 15 (euro) cent tax was placed on most plastic bags. This tax then goes directly back to the Irish government’s environmental agency. Since then, the tax has increased to 22 cents, and I’m sure will continue to rise in order to reduce bag circulation further.

I got to experience the (mostly) plastic bag free life in Ireland for 5 months. It amazed me at first to see barcodes on bags, but I soon got used to seeing people reusing all kinds of bags from different stores. Most stores, especially groceries like Tesco and Dunnes, sold “bags for life,” multi-use bags which ranged in price from 70 cents to 1 Euro. I picked one of these up during my first trip to Tesco, and that bag lasted my entire five month stay and beyond (I had to give it away).

In the US, I get excited when I see reusable bags sold in almost every grocery store I walk into. What pains me though is that these bags aren’t for sale at the checkout line, but are instead displayed to the side of the lines. In Ireland, at every checkout there are sturdy tote bags, usually made from recycled material, or heavy plastic bags (along with the one-use plastic bags, of course) to buy when you realize you haven’t brought enough bags or your old reusable bag finally broke after years of service.

What’s wrong with paying even 20 cents for a plastic bag? It wouldn’t hurt anyone to buy a few reusable bags or start getting out the dusty tote bags from the closet. Spend a few dollars and you could easily reduce your plastic bag consumption overnight from 328 to 21, just like the Irish did. Recycling plastic bags is not enough. It still takes a large amount of energy to recycle plastic bags, including transport, the recycling process, and transportation to be reused again. Buying a reusable bag or tote is definitely the more viable option – they are the future in sustainable practice (remember, reduce and reuse are two-thirds of the three R’s). Recently Australia and even China have now jumped on the bag bandwagon, and I think it’s time for our government to do the same. PlasTax anyone?

For more fun plastic bag facts, visit resuablebags.com. They also sell high-quality reusable items, such as bags and containers.