The reality is that with most green or savings measures nothing is ever as simple as everyone makes out because often it's about feeling good.Not to say we should keep plastic bags but if people are going to believe in being green they need to do their research and follow through properly at least.
I am not a green follower but still do recylce and do what I believe is right but I am always surprised that many who do rant on about being green have no idea of true facts.
"Studies have emerged showing reusable bags such as the green bags commonly sold at Coles and Woolworths
have to be used 104 times (weekly for two years) to make them more environmentally friendly than those grey single-use plastic bags.
This is because it takes more material and energy to make the green bags. It’s also worth noting that these bags are also made of plastic.
Other non-plastic alternatives can also be problematic.
A 2016 report by the NSW Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found a
cotton bag had to be used 131 times to equal the environmental impact of those single-use plastic supermarket bags used just once.
Clean Up Australia has recommended jute bags because they are made from a sustainable fibre that doesn’t require much water to produce.
“Jute doesn’t take as much water to produce as cotton,” a spokeswoman told news.com.au. “It can be grown very quickly and harvested quickly.
“Jute is also non-edible so we are not using a food source. The most sustainable elements to turn into bags are jute or bamboo.”
The catch with these bags is that jute is
mostly grown overseas and so there is a carbon cost to transporting it to Australia."
https://www.news.com.au/technology/...s/news-story/fb833bfa9bae7afeb63edcbc50789a16
