Going to the store and going green at the same time. We have a few "tips" on your shopping "trips" to save money and help save the earth.
When you're doing your daily shopping routine you probably get asked often, paper or plastic? Which one are you going to use and which one is better for the environment? Well there may be a third option that's a better way for you to go green and save green.
Plastic bags can be harmful to the environment. When they're not recycled, they can be ingested by fish and other fowl in the ocean. Plus, only about three percent of bags in the U.S. are recycled. The other 97 percent take 20 to 1000 years to break down. Also, to make the plastic bags, they use non renewable resources like oil gas and coal.
Ok, so you want to use paper bags instead? Actually, they're not much better. Trees have to be sacrificed just to make the paper bags. And it takes four times the amount of energy to make a paper bag as it does a plastic one. Plus, it takes 90 times the amount of energy to recycle a paper bag as opposed to your plastic friends.
If you do have to use your paper or plastic bag, at least you can help the environment by recycling in bins, outside of stores like Publix. But there's a third option…the reusable cloth bag.
Publix is just one of many stores that sells the reusable shopping bags. Since 2007, they've sold over 10 million of the green friendly bags. And if you're ready to recycle it, they can even do it for you.
Last year alone, they saved 400 million paper and plastic bags from being thrown into the landfill.
Another thing to remember with these reusable bags is to wash them occasionally because they can contain bacteria.
One other easy step to help go green is to combine your shopping trips so you aren't wasting gas for each little trip.
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