CHOOSE TO REUSE

By: Date: January 19, 2021

Plastic shopping bags seemed like a convenient and economical solution for our purchases, but are they worth the toll on our planet? Our lands and oceans are filled with a plastic product that may never decompose and degrades in quality when recycled. The Commission spends $10,000 annually on litter clean up, protecting the community and farmland surrounding the landfill and recycling center. 90% of what is collected is single-use plastic bags.

 

HINDSIGHT IS 20-20

Looking back on the past 50 years of plastic consumption is startling. A product made from oil, natural gas, and coal that does not decompose is overflowing our landfills and filling our oceans. While plastic has its place as a durable and resilient material in society, we must make choices to use it sparingly for various reasons.

1. Every piece of plastic ever made is still on our planet and will be for the next 500 – 1,000 years…if not forever. We have no way to be certain.
2. Harvesting, producing and disposing of fossil fuels is detrimental to our planet, humanity, animals and marine life. It comes with a toll.
3. Plastic is made from a finite material. When oil, natural gas, and coal are gone, they are permanently gone. The same product that heats our homes and powers our vehicles produces a plastic bag. There are better ways to use this resource than a disposable shopping bag.

 

A NEW VISION FOR 2020

Make difference choices, leave the single-use plastic bag in the store. Use a reusable shopping bag! There are so many choices made from cotton, canvas, heavy paper or recycled materials that are affordable and convenient to use.

If you forgot your reusable bag, ask for paper! If it’s a small enough purchase, who needs a bag, just carry it out!

We don’t always have a choice of how our merchandise is packaged on the shelf, but we do have a choice of how we bag our purchases to take them home.

 

SMALL CHANGES WITH A HUGE IMPACT

Eliminating the use of single-use plastic shopping bags is one small step that we can all take to help stop plastic pollution.

“It’s just a plastic bag,” said 327 million people…
“Stop using single-use plastic bags,” said 327 million people…

Our choices do make a global impact. Choose to Reuse.