I have a confession to make. Before I discovered alternatives to the “definitely not so environmentally friendly” plastic baggies, I used to actually re-use them! I don’t meant once…I mean if all I did was pack a dry snack in my plastic bags, they would go right back into my lunch packing routine the next day and the next. I know I can’t be the only one who has done this, right? I cringed at the thought of throwing away a plastic baggie I had used just once—especially after I heard the statistic that more than 20 million sandwich bags from school lunches go into US landfill every year. Shocking, right? On top of feeling wasteful, I was using plastic, and over the past year or so I have been learning more and more about the chemicals used in plastic products and how they can leach into food and drink. Not so appealing.
Then, things changed for me when my mom and I started www.LiveESP.com. We are always on the lookout for new and innovative products that are non-toxic and eco-friendly for the kitchen and on-the-go to bring into our lives and add to ESP’s site. Through our research, we discovered LunchSkins reusable sandwich and snack bags. They are non-toxic, grease-proof, dishwasher safe, eco-friendly, and super cute! I now use mine all the time when packing lunches…from a sandwich to trail mix to cut up fruit, they work great.
My affinity to LunchSkins brought me to the next phase of a more plastic-baggie-free lifestyle: the produce bag. In the produce section of the grocery store, you always see those green or clear plastic produce bags scattered throughout the fruits and veggies to help you keep them separate, clean, and easy to carry. The problem? Waste! I never liked using these bags, and putting my raw fruits and veggies without protection on the cashier’s conveyor belt was never appealing to me—not to mention unsanitary. My solution came when I discovered reusable produce bags made from 100% organic cotton. I have a few different bags (some netted and some solid) that make me feel a lot better about picking my favorite apples and the plumpest broccoli while perusing the produce section. I buy a lot of fresh produce so now instead of wasting a baggie or two every grocery run, I just reuse my organic cotton bag instead.
More and more I have begun to minimize the amount of plastic I use in my life. Plastic is everywhere around us, making it a seemingly convenient and relatively cheap way to go about life. But ultimately, switching to reusable products over plastic ends up doing less damage not only to the environment but also my wallet.
Needless to say, I have happily welcomed reusable bags into my life and have “zipped and locked” (sorry had to throw in play on words here) my plastic ones!
This was a guest post by Hannah Masimore-President of Essential Safe Products.
I think cloth baggies are going to be my big gift item for people next year. I could see my parents and in-laws liking them. We use ours all the time. I like the ones I got off your site because they can be taken apart and washed well. I have a shark one, it's way cute, but harder to clean.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the farewell to plastic baggies. I am currently on a plastic elimination project. I will probably keep some plastic contains for crafts or hardware storage, but no more plastic in the kitchen. I also bring the plastic produce bags back with me to the store or put the produce on my reusable grocery bag on top of the conveyor.
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