tastefully green
greener living for a greener planet
Reusable Bags
Custom Search
Shopping Bags
 ACME Bags |
 Ultra Compact |
 Heavy Duty |
 Basic Totes |
 String Bags |
 Large Bags |
 Modern Totes |
 Produce Bags |
 Thermal |
Using reusable bags is just one step that we all can take in our quest of using more environmentally friendly products. Reusable bags make sense and if you don't believe me, take a look at some of these not so environmentally friendly product facts below regarding plastic bags. Purchase a reusable bag today and stop continuing to use plastic or paper bags especially at the grocery. Be fashionable, be Tastefully Green, and be a leader by demonstrating to others it's time to start doing.
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed people can change the world: indeed it's the only thing that ever has!"
-- Margaret Meade
Top Facts - Consumption - Courtesy of ReusableBags.com
• Each year, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide. That comes out to over one million per minute. Billions end up as litter each year.• According to the EPA, over 380 billion plastic bags, sacks and wraps are consumed in the U.S. each year.
• According to The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually. (Estimated cost to retailers is $4 billion)
• According to the industry publication Modern Plastics, Taiwan consumes 20 billion bags a year?900 per person.
• According to Australia's Department of Environment, Australians consume 6.9 billion plastic bags each year?326 per person. An estimated .7% or 49,600,000 end up as litter each year.
Top Facts - Environmental Impact - Courtesy of ReusableBags.com
• Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, whales and other marine mammals die every year from eating discarded plastic bags mistaken for food.• Plastic bags don't biodegrade, they photodegrade?breaking down into smaller and smaller toxic bits contaminating soil and waterways and entering the food web when animals accidentally ingest.
• As part of Clean Up Australia Day, in one day nearly 500,000 plastic bags were collected.
• Windblown plastic bags are so prevalent in Africa that a cottage industry has sprung up harvesting bags and using them to weave hats, and even bags. According to the BBC, one group harvests 30,000 per month.
• According to David Barnes, a marine scientist with the British Antarctic Survey, plastic bags have gone "from being rare in the late 80s and early 90s to being almost everywhere from Spitsbergen 78° North [latitude] to Falklands 51° South [latitude].
• Plastic bags are among the 12 items of debris most often found in coastal cleanups, according to the nonprofit Center for Marine Conservation.
Down to the Numbers - Courtesy of ReusableBags.com
• Introduced just over 25 years ago, the ugly truth about our plastic bag addiction is that society's consumption rate is now estimated at well over 500,000,000,000 (that's 500 billion) plastic bags annually, or almost 1 million per minute.• Single-use bags made of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) are the main culprit. Once brought into existence to tote your purchases, they'll accumulate and persist on our planet for up to 1,000 years.
• Australians alone consume about 6.9 billion plastic bags each year, that's 326 per person. According to Australia's Department of Environment, an estimated 49,600,000 annually end up as litter.
• In 2001, Ireland used 1.2 billion disposable plastic bags, or 316 per person. An extremely successful plastic bag tax, or PlasTax, introduced in 2002 reduced consumption by 90%.
• According to The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually. An estimated 12 million barrels of oil is required to make that many plastic bags.
• Four out of five grocery bags in the US are now plastic.
• Plastic bags cause over 100,000 sea turtle and other marine animal deaths every year when animals mistake them for food.
• In a dramatic move to stem a tide of 60,000 metric tons of plastic bag and plastic utensil waste per year, Taiwan banned both last year.
• According to the BBC, only 1 in 200 plastic bags in the UK are recycled.
• According to the WSJ Target, the second-largest retailer in the U.S., purchases 1.8 billion bags a year.
• As part of Clean Up Australia Day, in one day nearly 500,000 plastic bags were collected. Unfortunately, each year in Australia an estimated 50,000,000 plastic bags end up as litter.
• The average family accumulates 60 plastic bags in only four trips to the grocery store.
• Each high quality reusable bag you use has the potential to eliminate an average of 1,000 plastic bags over its lifetime. The bag will pay for itself if your grocery store offers a $.05 or $.10 credit per bag for bringing your own bags.
• Windblown plastic bags are so prevalent in Africa that a cottage industry has sprung up harvesting bags and using them to weave hats, and even bags. According to the BBC one group harvests 30,000 per month.
