By ERICA COSLOP
Paper or plastic? The age-old question is the plague of shoppers everywhere. However, the increased use of reusable bags has changed the game. The inexpensive alternative is beneficial to shoppers, retailers and the environment.
Ending in 2014, ShopRite used to offer 5-cent rebate for each reusable bag used during a shopping trip. The promotion claims to have kept more than 315 million plastic bags out of landfills, all while saving consumers and retailers money.
However, using plastic bags still seems to be the norm.
“I see some people use reusable bags, but more people definitely use plastic still,” said Tom LaPenter, a grocery clerk at ShopRite.
Reusable or Plastic?
So why do some shoppers still seem so reluctant to make the switch from plastic to reusable?
The most commonly found answers are the convenience of plastic bags, forgetting reusable bags at home, how dirty reusable bags can become and that plastic bags themselves can be reusable.
“I use plastic bags for convenience mostly,” said Erin Albright, 22 of Clifton, NJ. “I’d have to go buy reusable ones and then remember to bring them with me.”
For some people, plastic bags go beyond being convenient just at the grocery store.
“I like getting the plastic bags from stores because I can use them around the house,” said Lee Chance, 70 of Millville, NJ. “It saves me from buying trash bags for the little cans around the house or buying bags to pick up after the dog on walks.”
On the other side, some people see the accumulation of plastic bags as an inconvenience rather than a benefit.
“Reusable bags are just so much more convenient because they’re bigger and sturdier than plastic ones,” said Kate McEnery, 21 of North Arlington, NJ. “I can carry groceries from my car to my car in fewer trips and not worry about them breaking on the way.”
Environmental Impact
Regardless of the reason for choosing one or the other, each plastic bag has an impact on our environment. Plastic bags are one of the leading cause of litter and it is estimated that 300 million of those bags alone end up in the Atlantic Ocean. The majority of the world’s wildlife resides in the oceans, putting them at a high risk for ingesting plastic bags, particularly sea turtles.
In one case, a beached whale was found to have had 30 plastic bags among other waste and debris in its stomach.
Plastic has been beneficial to society in many ways, including cell phones, but it is not meant to be a single-use material.
“Plastics are very long-lived products that could potentially have service over decades, and yet our main use of these lightweight, inexpensive materials are as single-use items that will go to the garbage dump within a year, where they’ll persist for centuries,” said Richard Thompson, lead editor of a report regarding plastic usage to Environmental Health News.
So, next time you are at the grocery store, what will it be? Plastic or reusable?
READ MORE:
Pretty much all of the bases are covered here. Good pictures, captions, inline citations and sidebar stories are included. Subheads also included, with important story-driving quotes. The one and only issue is the use of the word “our” (which very easily gets slipped in to my work as well). It’s first person. It’s used at the end of the line directly under the Environmental Impact subhead. Other than that, great story, driven by great quotes.