Green Bags
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It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Reusable shopping bag. (Discuss) |
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The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with Australia and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. |
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Green Bags are inexpensive reusable shopping bags used in some countries.
Green Bags and similar reusable shopping bags are commonly distributed at the point of sale by supermarkets and other retail outlets. They are intended to be reused repeatedly to replace the use of hundreds of HDPE plastic bags.
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[edit] History
[edit] Australia
In 2002 the Australian Federal Government studied the use of throwaway plastic bags and threatened to outlaw them if retailers did not voluntarily discourage their use.
In 2003 the government negotiated with the Australian Retailers Association a voluntary progressive reduction of plastic bag use which led to a number of initiatives, including the widespread distribution and promotion of Green Bags. With the growing environmental awareness and the negative perception of the single use plastic bags supermarkets started offering the reusable shopping bags at supermarkets.
[edit] New Zealand
With the growing environmental awareness and the negative perception of the single use plastic bags supermarkets started offering the reusable shopping bags at supermarkets.
[edit] Physical description
The standard green bag has two parts: the bag itself, and its base insert.
The bag
Most green bags are made of 100% Non-woven Polypropylene which is recyclable but not biodegradable. Some companies claim to be making NWPP bags from recycled material, however with current manufacturing techniques this is not possible. All NWPP bags are made from virgin material.
Similar bags are made of jute, canvas, calico or hemp but are not discussed here.
Most "green bags" are green, but they can be made in many other colours.
The base insert
A typical base insert is 200x300 mm and weighs 30 g. It is generally made of a stiff plastic.
[edit] Research
Environment Victoria in Australia has published a study Supermarket bag packing: a comparative time trial which compared the amount of time taken to pack reusable green bags compared with single-use plastic bags. It found great difference between green bags and single-use plastic bags in packing times for small to medium shopping loads (4-16 items); medium-sized loads (32 items) using green bags increased packing time, but by half a minute; larger loads (48 items) increased packing times by almost one minute when using green bags; and the increase in time and staff costs equates to AUD41.6 million annually.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
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This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (August 2009) |
