Whole Foods, one of the leading grocery chains in North America that specializes in natural and organic food, has decided to ban the use of plastic bags in every one of its 270 stores—a move that will take 150 million plastic bags out of circulation annually.
The Whole Foods Market chain plans to stop using plastic bags in time for Earth Day 2008 (April 22). In place of plastic bags, Whole Foods customers will carry their groceries home in either recycled paper bags or reusable bags.
Whole Foods officials estimate the chain currently distributes 150 million plastic bags annually through its 270 stores.
While 150 million plastic bags may seem like a drop in the bucket compared to the 1 trillion plastic bags used worldwide every year, Whole Foods is a trendsetting business that other retailers follow. It's decision to join an increasing number of businesses and governments in banning the use of plastic bags could go a long way toward reducing, or eventually eliminating, a source of littler and pollution that is causing serious harm to our environment.
Whole Foods Joins Other Businesses and Governments That Ban Plastic Bags
The new Whole Foods policy brings the store in line with a growing trend, as many governments and retailers ban plastic bags or discourage their due to environmental concerns. Nations and municipalities from China to San Francisco have banned certain types of plastic bags while others are requiring retailers to offer plastic bag recycling.
Plastic Bags are Commonplace - and Damaging to the Environment
Although a relatively new phenomenon in consumer convenience, plastic bags have become a standard solution for everything from shopping to food storage. Unfortunately, they also have become an environmental scourge. Here’s why:
- Plastic bags that end up in landfills may take up to 1,000 years to break down. And plastic bags aren’t biodegradable. They actually go through a process called photodegradation - breaking down into smaller and smaller toxic particles that contaminate both soil and water, and end up entering the food chain when animals accidentally ingest them.
- Plastic bags are made from petroleum. Producing plastic bags consumes millions of gallons of oil that could be used for fuel and heating.
- According to the Environmental Protection Agency, more than 380 billion plastic bags are used in the United States every year and only about 1 percent to 3 percent are ever recycled.
- Worldwide, people use nearly 1 trillion plastic bags every year. According to various estimates, Taiwan consumes 20 billion plastic bags annually (900 per person), Japan consumes 300 billion bags each year (300 per person), and Australia consumes 6.9 billion plastic bags annually (326 per person).
- Plastic bags are so lightweight that they are easily blown into trees, roads and waterways. Plastic litter is now found everywhere on the planet - even in remote places such as Antarctica. In the Pacific Ocean, there is a floating morass of plastic garbage that is twice the size of Texas and growing daily.
- Hundreds of thousands of whales, dolphins, sea turtles and other marine mammals die every year after eating discarded plastic bags they mistake for food.
While plastic grocery bags are, as I have mentioned before, ever so handy when going shopping and one does not have a bag on one's person they are a problem in the end, and that even if properly disposed of. And, with Fairtrade cotton tote bags that are so easily slipped into a pocket there is no reason for not having one's own shopping bag on one's person nigh on at al times.
So, let's hear it for the natural tote shopping bag!
© Michael Smith (Veshengro), February 2008
