Save the Environment – Use Re-Usable Bags

re-usable bags

Did you know that it takes one 15 to 20 year old tree to make 700 paper bags? That’s chopping down a lot of trees to provide thousands of grocery stores, gift shops, and large box stores with bags.

As of now, all stores in Cambridge, MA, no longer give out free paper bags , but charge ten cents per paper bag if you haven’t brought your own. (Sometimes, I still forget to bring my re-usable bags with me when I go shopping, and have to pay this fee.) According to a Boston Magazine article published on March 29, 2016, Somerville’s plastic bag ban, which passed last November and does not include a mandatory fee, goes into effect in September.

To do your part in helping to save the environment and conserve resources, use strong reusable bags instead of paper ones for all of your shopping errands (not only food/grocery items). Bags that are manufactured from natural fibers, or 100% recyclable material come in all shapes and sizes. Some are even insulated.

So, here are some tips to help us go greener by using recycled bags:

• Use two sets of bags that can be alternated between your home and your car.

• Assign one convenient and visible area in the home and car for each set of recycled bags. You could keep the bags on the front car seat for easy access and near your home’s exit door closest to the driveway or garage. NOTE: If you travel as a pedestrian without the use of a car, keep the bags near the exit door you use most.

• If you are out and want to make a spur-of-the-moment purchase, carry a fold-able recycled bag in your purse or attaché case. ChicoBag is an online company whose mission is to help humanity stop the single-use habit. Most of their reusable shopping bags compact into an attached pouch to make them easy to keep in your purse or pocket so you’re never without a reusable bag again. (http://www.chicobag.com/)

• Keep four to five bags grouped together either in one reusable bag, or purchase the reusable bag organizer, the ‘Chalk It Tote Buddy’. It comes with an erasable chalk pen for writing to-do or shopping lists on the outside of the tote. ‘Tote Buddy’s’ help you to declutter and stay organized and can hold ten reusable bags. (http://www.TheToteBuddy.com/)

Do you have many re-usable bags that you don’t use? Begin utilizing them now to save those trees! 

To schedule a complimentary 1/2 hour telephone consultation, contact Judy at [email protected]

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