The demise of the plastic grocery bag - BYOB Please!

Ever had one of days when you have an aha moment?
Today I had a little memory, I wanted to share.
As a kid growing up in a little Mexican town, it was an everyday event to go to the market -mercado- and get your groceries from the local vendors, and farmers. The usual chore started by looking for your “bolsa de mercado”, a big bag made of plastic net, and resistant enough to carry a family’s daily meal.

This colorful bags, are very hip today, but back in the 70’s, when the New Bag (the throw away kind) was invented, everyone wanted to use them, it was “cool” to just throw away things. It was also cool to go to the “supermarket”, and un-cool to go to the market. So all of a sudden the “bolsa de mercado” along with the “mercado”, became a big no-no.
Carrying your groceries with a bolsa, was a social - faux pas - and if you were a young teenager, and wanted to belong to the cool crowd, you carried a plastic throw away bag with some logo stamped on it, unless you wanted to be publicly humiliated by your cool friends. Talk about peer pressure!
Now to be cool you do what back in the days, everybody in my hometown did, you BYOB, or bring your own bag.
So I wanted to share this super cool traditional plastic mesh bag with you, and encourage you to BYOB.

But it’s plastic you might say, well yes, it is, but here’s the deal. The reason why I love this bag, is: it’s washable, it comes with all kinds of compartments, It’s colorful, it’s super resistant, perfect for laundry, carrying scripts and books, and lasts a really long time, almost forever (my grandma had hers for at least 15 years). It also helps the local economy of the people that make them, and helps keep a long tradition of BYOB going. You can buy yours here.

Here some facts:

-Most plastics come from our non-renewable source petroleum

-In the US about 100 billion bags are used per year, and will stay in the environment around 1000 years if not recycled. Now multiply that times the number of cities in the world.

-The Mexican bolsa is made of plastic net, the same that is used to make tennis courts, it lasts around 10 years or more if used properly, and almost every household has one. That means millions of people using this old fashion “bolsa” instead of the throw away kind.

-Plastic bags in the ocean cause fish to choke when they eat it, confusing it for jelly fish.

-The recycling of plastic bags is used mostly in making recycled plastic bags, and recycled construction materials, yes, we are living in a plastic world.

-Most retailers now have recycling bins to collect plastic bags.

Hopefully soon, at the grocery store, instead of asking us paper or plastic? They’ll ask BYOB?
You can buy yours here

Tagged as: abundance, accessories, Green, plastic, Recycling