Eco shopping bags are growing in popularity among basically everyone who wants to go green, and nowadays, that’s the majority of people.
Eco-friendly bags cut back on plastic bag pollution, as well as other forms of pollution present in manufacturing and freight transportation, and they’re reusable; so, they can save you some money now that plastic bags aren’t free in most places.
However, you don’t just want to grab any old “eco” bag and call it a day.
Here are some things to consider to get the right eco shopping bags to reduce your carbon footprint.
1: Materials
First and foremost, you need to look at the materials being used.
Yes, you can get some cheap nylon bags that are reusable, but are they really eco-friendly? Not as much as you’d think. Being reusable, they are better than single-use plastic bags, but nylon is still plastic, and it has a fairly dirty production process. For this reason, they’re not great to use, but they can be a good way to ease people into using reusable products after decades of throw-away consumerism.
On the other hand, canvas bags can be made with minimal pollution, and even some paper bags can be eco-friendly. Just make sure you’re getting paper bags that are made from seaweed instead of traditional tree paper, and they’ll have a tremendously positive effect on the environment.
2: Structural Integrity
Some “green” individuals are so eager to help the environment that they forget about practicality. It’s noble, but it doesn’t help the cause that much. If anything, pushing ineffective, annoying solutions on people can push them away from going green altogether.
So, we highly recommend shelling out for eco shopping bags that are made well.
This means checking that the material is thick and durable, that straps are secured properly and unlikely to rip, and overall, that they don’t feel like flimsy garbage.
By using good, high-quality, eco-friendly bags, and recommending them to friends, you ensure that the bags make a good impression and are more than practical as long-term solutions. This proves that they’re not just better for the environment, but they’re better for the user, too.
3: Biodegradable
Always make sure your eco-friendly shopping bags are biodegradable. While you’ll be using your bags over and over again, it’s just an unfortunate fact that they will wear out eventually. When they do, recycling is an option for some of them, but that’s a headache for some people, and to make it worse, many recyclables don’t actually get recycled. If they’re in bad shape or contaminated, they get tossed in a landfill.
By making sure your eco shopping bags are biodegradable, and thus, truly eco-friendly, you ensure that your good-hearted attempt isn’t in vain when the bags finally get worn out.
This isn’t a problem with paper or canvas bags, but bags made from nylon, or ones that include harmful dyes and inks, can be harmful to the environment.
Luckily, most bag manufacturers will boast about this feature if they can; so, it’s pretty easy to tell.