Reusable Bags vs. Plastic Single-use Bags

We decide to prove a visual point...  One of our staff members goes grocery shopping biweekly; she was heading for her grocery shopping for the beginning of the month of March. We went against our convictions and asked her to go on her shopping errands without her reusable bags to see how many plastic bags she would come back home with...

Our staff member came back with 21 plastic, single use bags; including a bag from a fast food restaurant.

Our staff member came back home with 21plastic bags filled with groceries (she wasn't too happy about this). We then off-loaded the contents of the plastic bags into her reusable bags to show how reusable bags  are not only Eco-friendly, but a lot more conducive over plastic bags; plastic bags are not only a major cause of waste pollution , but they are not convenient and  they do half the job of a reusable bag.

6.5 Reusable bags filled with the same groceries; the half bag has the food from the fast food restaurant in it.

All the contents in the 21 plastic bags fit nicely and comfortably into 6 reusable bags and still had space for more items. Grocery contents that normally would fit into at least 3-4 plastic, single-use bags can fit in one reusable bag; reducing how many plastic bags a customer uses or comes home with. Plastic bags have a very short life span; reusable bags have a life span of years. One reusable bag can carry a weight of 30 to 40 pounds; it takes about 5 plastic bags to carry the same amount of weight and they would have to be doubled with another plastic bag for added security.

Did you know that Nigerians use over 100 billion plastic bags each year? If 25% of families used 10 fewer plastic bags per month; we would save 2.5 billion plastic bags from entering out environment per year!

Our staff member came home from her shopping with 21 plastic bags and she does the same type of grocery shopping twice in a month which means she brings home a minimum of  42 plastic bags every month; that's 504 bags a year that will end up filling our landfills. Think about it, she is just 1 out of over 160 million people in Nigeria who bring home the same amount of plastic bags or more.

Hassle free and ascetically better reusable bags. Besides being such a menace to our environment; plastic bags are such a pain to keep tidy.

A major bonus about reusable bags is it allows hassle free storage... Our staff member easily folds all her reusable bags into one and when she goes shopping, she grabs the bag with all the other bags already in it. It is a lot more convenient than finding space to stuff all the plastic bags or filling the trash can with a bunch of plastic bags since recycling is not available in Nigeria.

The verdict... Reusable bags win by a long shot! Plastic bags aren't even a contender... 

No caption needed... This says it all!