Are you looking for an easy way to get into the “green” lifestyle without jumping too far into it and giving yourself a system shock? Don’t worry. No one’s judging here. Some of the changes proposed by leading green authorities are, in fact, a little difficult to get used to.
We’re going to ease you in with one super-simple switch you can make; adopt canvas bags into your shopping routine.
There are tons of reasons to ditch plastic bags at the checkout lane and go with canvas, but for now, we’re going to highlight the five most important ones to make your choice to switch a bit easier.
Let’s get started.
1: Biodegradable
Most recycled products end up in landfill, anyways. So, recycling, while still important, isn’t exactly perfect.
Canvas bags are biodegradable, and when they get sent to the landfill, they’ll be decomposed in a matter of weeks or months depending on weather conditions.
While not ideal, it is natural, and it’s far better than tossing plastic in there for 500 years.
2: Reusable
As we said, recycling isn’t perfect. A lot of the stuff you put your time and effort into recycling still ends up in a landfill.
Instead, reusing items is preferred by most green authorities. Why is that?
Well, reusing items means that the same items are being used over and over again; which reduces the need to produce more. It also means that fewer of those items end up in landfills.
Canvas bags are strong and durable, and you can take the same bags on all of your shopping trips for years without needing replacements.
3: Sustainable
Just because something is plant-based doesn’t mean it’s sustainable. Look at the timber industry or the palm oil industry. They destroy entire ecosystems.
Luckily, canvas doesn’t rely on plants that can’t be sustainably harvested. It’s made from cotton. Cotton grows quickly, doesn’t overuse water for what it produces, and doesn’t cause harm to the environment when it’s harvested properly and grown without dangerous chemicals.
This helps preserve the land and the ecosystems that depend on cotton; without hindering our ability to make plenty of canvas out of it.
4: Clean Production
There will always be emissions during the production phase of mass-produced products. That cannot be avoided with current production technology, but it might become a possibility in the future. However, some things are cleaner to produce than others.
One of those things is, you guessed it, canvas.
Canvas is extremely clean to produce, and beyond the dyes used to make prints on the fabric, and the emissions from the machines used to streamline the process, there’s nothing harmful about producing canvas. In fact, the dye problem is easily solved by using natural dyes, and many eco-friendly companies are making that switch, now.
5: Cost-Effective
Finally, none of this stuff matters if the eco-friendly alternative is so expensive that the average person can’t afford it. We’re seeing that problem with electric cars right now; they’re great, but the average person can’t just buy a new, high-tech, vehicle on a whim.
Luckily, canvas bags are extremely cheap, and most of them only cost a couple of bucks a piece if you’re getting a simple plastic alternative for shopping.