Let's start with perhaps the easiest transition to make - reusable bags!
Its been estimated that 100 billion plastic bags are used in the US each year. These bags end up EVERYWHERE - they are light, hard to capture and contain in waste management receptacles, easily carried by the wind, and gunk up recycling machines.
There are a few places that I've found where you can recycle these bags, including Mom's Organic Market, but you can't readily recycle them in standard single-stream recycling. Plastic Film Recycling is also a useful resource to be able to search where/how you can dispose of plastic bags and plastic wrap near you.
I always carry a super compact reusable bag in my purses and work bags (you can buy them at Safeway - yes, they are usually made from polyester, but using one of those for your lifetime is still better than buying a new plastic bag every time you shop). You can see an example in the top right of the image above. Keep them in your car, keep them at your office, they are always good to have handy just in case.
Its also SUPER easy to avoid produce bags at the grocery store. You're going to wash the produce when you get home anyway, plus they've been sitting on a grocery shelf. Plastic packaging is the number one largest source of plastic production, and its continuing to increase exponentially. When you go to the grocery store, instead of taking one of the plastic produce bags, bring your own fabric bag, or don't use a bag at all!
There are also lots of options for reusable mesh produce bags, if you do prefer to use one, such as the Earthwise brand which you can purchase through Amazon.
You can also easily make reusable bags out of a t-shirt (and its a fun activity for kids!). All you need to do is sew together the bottom of the t-shirt and then cut the neck hole opening to be a bit larger, then use the arm holes for the handles - voila! Plus its a great way to repurpose those old t-shirts you've been meaning to get rid of.
And if you needed more convincing, these translucent sacks look just like jellyfish when they are floating in the water (trust me)...which is a main food source for most species of sea turtle...not cool. Ditch them today!
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