Vent: Finally admitted my reusable bag habit was making things worse

I used to think buying a new reusable bag every time I forgot mine was being 'green.' Last month at the Target on Elm Street, I counted 17 of them stuffed under my car seat and realized I was just hoarding plastic. The moment that changed my mind was when a cashier told me it takes 20 uses for one bag to actually help the planet. She showed me a study on her phone that said most people use them 3 times then toss them. So now I keep a single folded tote clipped to my keys and refuse to buy another one. Has anyone else had to admit their 'good habit' was actually creating more waste?

2 comments

2 Comments

bens8123d ago

Started digging into the stats after that and found out producing those thick reusable bags actually has a bigger carbon footprint than the thin plastic ones... like way bigger. Made me wish I'd just reused the flimsy store bags as trash liners instead of chasing this perfect eco image. Now I'm that weirdo who washes out ziploc bags and hangs them on the dish rack.

ben20623d ago

Yeah I just started reusing old pasta sauce jars for everything, cuts way down on waste.