Alternatives to Carrier Bags

Carrier bags is a term for the traditional paper or plastic bags that you get from a supermarket to carry out your groceries in. While it's perfectly possible to recycle these bags, that often doesn't happen and these carry bags become a burden on the environment. Because of this many stores and individuals are attempting to find alternatives to using traditional carrier bags.

Reusable Bags

One alternative to the traditional carrier bags are reusable bags. These reusable bags tend to be much larger and made of durable, natural materials like heavy cotton. The general idea is that if you bring your reusable bag (or two of them if you have a lot of shopping to do), you will save energy and reduce the use of traditional carrier bags. At the same time, you won't have to recycle the bags, and the need for them goes down. However, some people may forget their reusable bags and then have to use the traditional carrier bags.

Another way that you can eliminate your use of carrier bags is to order your products to be delivered. This way, your groceries are brought to your home (often in reusable bags that the delivery people can take with them), and you don't have to deal with carrier bags at all. Unfortunately, this service can get expensive when you keep in mind travel costs, and lots of people don't want to go through the hassle of placing orders for their items. These individuals would rather just do their own shopping and cart the items home, but having delivery as an option may help reduce the use of carrier bags.

Traditional carrier bags, especially the plastic ones, can pose a major risk to the environment if they're just thrown away or not recycled. However, there is an alternative type of carrier bag that is completely biodegradable. Strong and durable, able to stand up to a reasonable amount of weight and hard use, these carrier bags can just be thrown out into the elements; for example, they can be placed in your compost bin. Once they've been thrown out, these bags will break down easily into components that can be absorbed and used by the earth with little to no difficulty.