by L Loftus

Created on: April 08, 2008   Last Updated: April 22, 2008

Reusable bags are making headlines. The huge success of the I'm not a plastic bag' bag has made it clear that ethically conscious shopping is big news, and many stores are capitalising on the new 'environmentally aware consumer' by selling their own reusable bags and giving customers an incentive for bringing their own bags. But choosing to use reusable bags is not as simple as hopping on the trend; plastic and paper bags are doing major damage to the planet. So for those not yet convinced, here's why you should make the switch to reusable:

PLASTIC BAGS HARM WILDLIFE AND MARINE LIFE: Plastic bags choke, strangle and suffocate marine mammals such as sea turtles, whale and dolphins. Sea birds starve to death because they have mistaken plastic bags for food and once in the stomach the bag will not digest and no other food can be broken down.

PLASTIC BAGS HARM HUMANS: On average, 20 deaths due to plastic bags are reported in America each year. Children can not suffocate in a paper or hemp bag.

PLASTIC BAGS COST THE EARTH: Most plastic bags are made from polyethylene which is made using natural gas and crude oil. In fact, production of plastic bags consumes millions of gallons of these non-renewable resources, resources which could be used for fuel and heating a high price to pay for something typically used for less than an hour.

THEY'LL BE HERE LONG AFTER YOU: Unless recycled which less than 1% are plastic bags hang about for up to 1,000 years. A common misconception is that the bags eventually biodegrade, in fact they photodegrade, separating into smaller and smaller toxic particles which contaminate soil and water and eventually enter the food chain.

Paper or plastic? Although a marginally greener choice, paper bag's green credentials don't stack up against plastic a much as you'd expect. Although trees are a renewable resource, trees do not grow in a day. Estimates place paper bag consumption at up to 10 million a day, which is a lot of trees. They use more energy to recycle and the ones that end up on the landfill take up more space than plastic and still take several centuries to biodegrade.

As the plastic bag problem gains universal acceptance governments are now getting involved. Ireland has led the way introducing the PlasTax' in 2002, causing plastic bag consumption to drop by 90%. As well as drastically reducing litter it has saved approximately 18 million litres of oil. Britain looks set to follow with it's own plastic bag levy announced in this year's financial budget. Far and away the best option, for your planet and your purse, is to use reusable bags. So what are you waiting for?

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