Be Bag Smart

It's manufactured in China, shipped thousands of miles overseas, made with plastic and could take years to decompose. It's also the hot "green" giveaway - the reusable shopping bag.  One such bag features "Saving the World One Bag at a Time."  Now, we're not trying to give you a hard time, it's certainly great to use these bags rather than take new plastic bags each time you're at the store.  It's important before you invest in such a bag to see where it's made, whether it's organic, and whether you need it (you may already have 6 bags at home!).  "If you don't reuse them, you're actually worse off by taking one of them," says Bob Lillenfeld, author of the Use Less Stuff Report, an online newsletter about waste prevention. And because many of the bags are made from heavier material, they're also likely to sit for a long time in the landfill. 

According to the article, the good news is if you do use your bag at least once per week, you can save up to 520 plastic bags from being used!

Bottom line - make sure you're using your reusable bags (and try to find ones made in the U.S. either from recycled or organic materials) and you're all good. 

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