As plastic suffocates our lands and oceans, we need to find alternatives in order to protect ecosystems, wildlife, and ourselves. While producing plastic bags is cheaper and less harmful than producing cotton bags, for instance, their life cycle and afterlife are criteria we cannot neglect. Many countries are proposing alternatives to the common, ubiquitous plastic bag. The answer to the problem seems to be reusable grocery bags, in cotton, hemp, paper, and nonwoven polypropylene. Are they any good?

Plastic bags don’t biodegrade, but they can break down through photo degradation. When photo degradation, decomposition through exposure to light, happens, the bag breaks down into small, toxic particles.

Paper bags are biodegradable and easy to recycle or compost. But producing them in quantity requires a lot of water, fuel and cut-down trees. And they usually aren’t made from recycled material, because new paper has longer, stronger fibers. While it is cheaper and less carbon-heavy to produce plastic bags, their “afterlife” is what we need to take into consideration.

Cotton tote bags for shopping are reusable even when we do not use them anymore – as we can repurpose them. When it comes to paper bags, we can incinerate them, compost them, or repurpose them for different home activities. Even if cotton bags or paper bags end up in a landfill, they are biodegradable, therefore easier on the environment. In other words, cotton and canvas bags, together with paper bags, are more eco-friendly choices than plastic bags.

Purchase our stylish custom reusable totes and let the world know you care. Embroidered with your slogan of choice or the emblem of a cause, they are a wonderful, eco-friendly way to get exposure for an idea.