Plastic bag free zone

I hate plastic bags! My green bags have a permanent home in my car boot, ready for the grocery shopping. I use my handbag or a back pack when possible instead of taking a plastic bag. I refuse the brown paper bags at the liquor store but when I buy new clothes or a gift I am at a bit of a loss. I don’t want the plastic bag but I also don’t want to stuff my new shirt into my handbag, next to my lunchbox.

So last weekend when I came across a strawberry shaped eco-bag I was quick to purchase one. This fantastic product comes in 3 fun designs – a strawberry, carrot or bunch of grapes. Its practical design fits easily into a handbag but folds out to form a sturdy carry bag. It is an inexpensive and fun gift that anyone can use. Take a look a the images below.

With more and more companies abandoning plastic bags in their stores we will all need to be more conscious about how we carry the products we purchase. Eco-bags are the perfect solution. Target is leading the way in Australia. As of June 1st they removed all free plastic bags from their stores country wide. You now have to either bring your own bag or purchase one of their green bags or biodegradable ones. They say this will result in an astonishing 100 million less bags in land fill and a whole lot less green house gases being emitted during the production of bags. What a huge achievement and one that we can all be a part of if we are ready to change, unfortunately something a lot of people seem unwilling to do.

Having lived in Austria for several years I know first hand it is possible to do the shopping without plastic bags. In supermarkets instead of waiting in the check-out line while the cashier packs items into plastic bags the locals quite happily bring along back packs and eco-bags and pack themselves. If you don’t bring a bag and you buy a bit more than you can carry there are sturdy bags available for a couple of euros which you often see being reused for months later. The Austrians can be a stubborn bunch so if they have been able to change to shopping without plastic bags I am sure we can too.

I encourage you to support companies like Target, who have bravely abandoned plastic bags in a market where they are expected, and to use alternatives to plastic where possible. This Christmas treat your friends or colleagues to an eco-bag and help make Australia a plastic bag free zone. And if fruit is not your thing there are plenty of other great designs on the market – I’m sure there is one to suit every taste.