Single Use

...Plastic Bags

A witty turn of phrase...single use bags. Definitive...bags that are only used a single time. Short, yet sweet and oh, so completely false.

Part of the demonization of plastic bags that has taken place over the past three years is labeling them as disposable. Yet using the term disposable for bags doesn’t quite paint a wicked enough picture. Disposable could be associated with any number of things - ink cartridges, computer printers, cars, televisions - just look at what we have disposed of over the last three years alone!

So new terminology was marketed to help paint a darker, more nefarious villain - single use bags. Since 2007, we have been inundated with the term so much so that all plastic bags have become our environmental enemy. Today, there are hundreds of local government agencies and two state agencies drafting legislation to control the "single use bag".

But are these bags truly single use? An informal market survey shows that these bags are reused 85% of the time. They are used for a wide variety of reasons from pet clean-up and small trash cans to kids activities and outdoor events - everyone at the grocery store had a reason. In fact, many people we chatted with stated that they intentionally didn’t bring their reusable bags on this visit because they needed to restock on the store bags!

Even better, these bags have made huge increases in their recycle rates. We’ve increased measurable recycling from less than one percent three years ago to over six percent in 2009. (Hilex Poly) With new technology available to recycle bags, programs like the Bag 2 Bag recycling partnership help reduce the amount of NEW raw material used to create bags.

With the elimination of "single use bags", the ability to reuse those bags for secondary purposes will be offset with bags that are truly single use. Meaning, instead of reusing bags supplied at supermarkets, restaurants and retailers, we’ll be purchasing bags for a specific purpose and disposing of them.

Don’t misunderstand...the intention here is NOT to continue to increase the production of plastic bags, but to think about what a single use bag TRULY is. There are solutions available to decrease the amount of new material used to manufacture plastic bags as well as solutions to help control plastic bag litter.

Let’s keep our eye on the goal - reduce, reuse and recycle. Reduce the amount of new raw material used in production of plastic bags, reuse the plastic bags that are manufactured and recycle the plastic bag if it is of no further use. We can add to the recipe and help the bags biodegrade in order to fight the unending problem our world has with litter as well.

It’s all in our hands...let’s make Mother Nature proud.

We invite your comments - drop us a note at service@bagsco.com