All across the country, grocery stores are choosing to purchase wholesale custom reusable bags rather than sticking with plastic bags. Although not every state in the U.S. has considered this as high of a priority as certain groups have, there is an increasing number of states implementing legislation to actually ban the use of plastic grocery bags.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, states across the nation are giving further consideration to implementing strategies that would reduce the use of plastic bags from both retail and grocery establishments.
Here are a few cities that have fully implemented full bans on using plastic bags:
- Austin, Texas
- Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Chicago, Illinois
- Los Angeles, California
- San Francisco, California
- Seattle, Washington
And here are a few cities and out counties that don't have a full ban but have implemented fees for using plastic bags:
- Boulder, Colorado
- Brownsville, Texas
- Montgomery County, Maryland
- New York, New York
- Portland, Maine
- Washington D.C.
Regulating these bags can be quite difficult because it's hard to monitor every store in a certain area. But the benefits of reusable bags far outweigh the dangers that plastic bags pose to the environment. Because of the environmental advantages of these products, organizations are buying wholesale custom reusable bags to both protect the environment and improve their company's image.
Typically, plastic bags are used only once and then discarded after only 25 minutes. These bags aren't usually recycled or properly disposed of, but are rather tossed into wastebaskets, only to end up rotting in landfills for years.
Plastic bags don't just biodegrade like other products, they actually photo-degrade. Photo-degrading consists of the bag breaking down into small toxic pieces that end up in oceans and causing further bioaccumulation in the food chain. Not only do these bags break down and cause harm to the ocean and environment, but they break down very slowly so their damage is increased over extended periods of time. Plastic bags can actually take up to 1,000 years to fully break down.
Although not every state has joined the fight against plastic bags, the future will hopefully consist of 0 stores using these dangerous bags. If you want to learn more about the national campaign to ban plastic bags or find wholesale custom reusable bags for sale, contact Holden Bags today!
