Reusable Bags Are Part of the Solution

Sometimes it seems like the news is full of problems, but here at 1 Bag at a Time, I like to focus on solutions.

So I was happy to see the New York Times ask the question:  Is there anything I can do about climate change?  Their short answer:  Fly less, drive less, waste less.

1 Bag at a Time is all about wasting less!  Reusable bags, and anything you reuse, reduces waste. Every time you throw something away, or even recycle it, you are using resources to make it, dispose of it, and make another throw away product.

Instead, imagine buying a shopping bag you love, and using it for two years.  Imagine the pile of bags you no longer have to throw away.

When I first discovered reusable bags, I was amazed at the difference it made in my trash. I hadn’t noticed before how much of my trash was just packaging, which isn’t really the thing I wanted anyway.  As I started using reusable bags, I started giving up all kinds of other packaging too. Reducing waste seemed so easy!

I always like to say that reusable bags are like a hybrid car, they take a little bit of our resources and go a long way.  When I started selling bags over 10 years ago, less than 3% of US consumers were using their own bags.  Now, current research shows that people remember to bring their own bags more than half the time, even without legislation.  This is a huge shift!

Little things add up to big changes.  As I say on my tag, sustainability is a thousand choices you make every day.  Like reusing a bag.