... Or are they?

Shopping bags seem to be the current poster-item for our consumer driven, earth destroying civilisation at the moment, shops are phasing them out, making you pay for them, making you buy $2.00 canvas bags instead of using plastic bags, coming out with more biodegradable bags instead of plastic, because apparently shopping bags make up xx% of landfill.

I don't know about you, but in my house, we use the shopping bags to put out rubbish in, in the bin. Unless they're crappy bags with holes in them, we re-use them, the only reason they make it into the landfill is because they're holding all our other garbage. If they take away plastic shopping bags, I am still going to need something to put my rubbish in, I don't think they want me using the canvas bags to carry my garbage. If I have to buy garbage bags, they are generally a thicker plastic than the shopping bags, which will take even longer to break down in landfill. Buying plastic bags means more industry is required to produce the bags, which means more pollution.

It seems to me that plastic bags are just the scape goat, sure there's a lot of them in landfill, but how about we take a look at what's inside the plastic bags when they're at the landfill. What's inside? MORE PLASTIC. Shopping bags aren't the bad guy here, the packaging industry is. You buy a packet of biscuits, there's individual biscuits, wrapped in PLASTIC, sitting in a PLASTIC tray, and the whole thing is wrapped again in PLASTIC. How many things do you buy that are needlessly wrapped in 10 layers of plastic?

I think this whole shopping bag thing is just another example of governments pointing the finger at the easiest target instead of actually addressing the real issue. Is phasing out shopping bags really going to save the environment? Surely there are bigger things they could be doing? Of all the possible things we could be doing to "save the earth" is shopping bags really at the top of the list?

whatever, you damn neocon Republican.

go ahead and keeping killing Mother Nature.

In America they give you like 100 bags for 3 items of shopping. Just saying, in Cali when you go to the Walmart or Target they put like 2 items in a bag then move onto another. They are pretty flimsy bags though.

In Taiwan you have to pay for bags at shoppign centers. BUT, they're big, thick bags. NOW, I don't get that. Instead of charging us they could use less material to make their bags... it'd be more environmentally friendly, that's for sure.

But then, like Emma, I reuse bags anyway.

I want one bag per item. I want them to bag each egg, then bag the whole dozen back in the container. Then I ask for extra bags.

On the way home I throw them out the window and laugh.

It takes a long time to carry my groceries into the house by hand though.

What's worse that the bags though, seriously, is the long ass fucking receipts you get.

I bought a pack of smokes from Rite-Aid and the receipt was a foot long. What the fuck? There is a coupon and a number to call so I can take a survey and maybe win money. Pointless.

-HECK!

The shopping bag campaign is a ground up effort to reduce pollution and waste. Politicians, policy makers, and businesses have jumped on board as a part of the Go Green fad. Yes it is not the most advanced thing people could do to help the environment but I think it is a step in the right direction. Your reusing the bags is great but many people don't ever think about the waste they produce. The campaign if nothing else raises awareness of the fact that goods come from resources that are running out and they go somewhere after your done with them and that somewhere is filling up. There is a danger that people will lose sight of the point and go and buy a bunch of canvas bags and trash bags and go through more resources that way... but part of life is bumping around always looking for a better solution.

A lot of supermarkets in the UK gave away reusable bags in the summer in attempt to get rid of people using the plastic bags we have like 7 of these re usable bags now and they would be really useful if we could just remember to take the damn things with us when we go shopping. I reckon we are not far from being charged for these bags in the UK that issue raises it's head every few months o it's only a matter of time before it becomes some kind of law

My work has those reusable bags for clients and every time i need to take something home from work I grab one of those bags, I have about 50 of them in the bedroom cupboard now, which of course, is no use to me when i go shopping and need a bag, even if I left them in the car, I don't reckon I would be bothered getting them out. I guess it's worth a try, I will put some in the car and see what happens, although I am guessing they will end up gathering dust in there along with all the other junk in the car.