As you have probably heard or even experienced by now, Austin is now a plastic-bag free zone. If you shopped a week before the ban began (March 1), then you probably received a free reusable bag for your convenience. The ban is in full swing and it is up to you to remember to bring your own.
But Wait! Before getting annoyed at the idea of having to remember your own bag when you shop, think of the benefits the ban will have on you and your community:
- Each year in the US we use 91 billion plastic bags and 10 billion paper bags
- The average family collects 60 plastic bags or 30 paper bags in just 4 trips to the grocery
- The production of disposable bags utilizes natural resources and causes pollution
- Only a small percentage of plastic bags are currently recycled
- It takes plastic bags 1,000 years to breakdown and paper bags take up a lot of space in the landfill
Visit this page for more information.
Always forgetting your bag?
- Keep the bags on a hook near the front door.
- Purchase a bag that is small enough to hook to our keychain.
- Keep one set of bags in the trunk of our car and one in the apartment, one for walking and one for driving shopping trips. The trick will be remembering to put the car set back in the car.
- Purchase a bag that you can roll/fold and shove in your purse, backpack or laptop case.
- Get a bag that is so cool you want to take it everywhere.
- Put a big reminder sign on the inside of the front door (or on a bulletin board near the door) “Remember Your Bags!”
Blog authored by Ashlee Vasquez ’13, MBA