Growing up in the early 70s and 80s, i went grocery shopping with my mom. They put the groceries in paper bags. They held all the stuff we bought. If you threw them away, they basically disintegrated. I never thought anything of it (and neither did my mom).
However, they took cutting down trees to make them. We like trees for helping us with all the great things they do like oxygen and preventing erosion and decreasing storm impacts.
Then, in the mid 80's plastic bags started gaining popularity. They we touted by holding two six-packs in them and not breaking. They used oil to make, and we had plenty of it. People quickly adopted them. However, they didn't really break down, so they sat around and filled up landfills or floated around parking lots.
Fast forward to today.
Few stores use paper bags and the plastic bags of today are slightly better at bio-degrading. However, they are half the thickness of the original bags and to carry that same two six-pack load, you'll need to double bag.
Also today...
Tote bags and re-usable shopping bags are gaining in popularity. They don't need trees or oil and don't clutter up your home or landfills with bags that will take a year to degrade.
They also hold more weight.
Stores are even selling cheap re-usable bags, but they are not really meant for long-term use.
Their biggest drawback is that you have to remember to put them back in the car for your next shopping trip or remember them when you leave the house.
However, re-usable bags are worth the trouble. You save the earth, you carry more and you don't clutter up the world and you save a tree here and there.
We started making bee-themed tote bags to give people a way to carry their groceries, books and other stuff while showing the world your love for bees and nature.
We give back a part of our profit to organizations that support bees and pollinator conservation.
Tote bags make amazing gifts and show your love of the environment.
Check out the selection at mybeegifts.com.