Why Bring Your Own Bag?
Start a habit you'll be proud to flaunt: remember your own bags every time you go to the store. It's one simple way to go green in your daily life. And when people see you're making the right choice, they're likely to do it too.
In Summer/Fall 2008, 4,356 shoppers signed Castro Valley Sanitary District’s “Bring Your Own Bag” (BYOB) guest book and pledged to help the environment by bringing their own tote bag every time they go to the grocery store. As a result, we estimate that disposable bag use has been reduced by 20,865 bags per week!
Keep up the good work, and keep using those reusable bags!
The following is a summary of bags distributed/pledges made in October and November.
| Location |
Date |
Day |
Number of Bags |
| Custodian Training |
November 24, 2008 |
Monday |
50 |
| CVUSD Board Meeting |
November 20, 2008 |
Thursday |
13 |
| Longs Drugs |
October 25, 2008 |
Saturday |
77 |
| Recycled Art Awards |
October 21, 2008 |
Tuesday |
250 |
| Chamber Mixer |
October 16, 2008 |
Thursday |
75 |
| Rite Aid |
October 11, 2008 |
Saturday |
128 |
Total = 3,327
Total bags distributed as of January 2009 = 4356
Total estimated bags saved per week/15 signatures per page = average bags saved per person a week
Total average of estimated bags saved per week = 4.79
Total average a person estimates to save per week x total signatures = 20,865.24
Some paper & plastic statistics:
- Each year the United States consumes 30 billion plastic and 10 billion paper grocery bags, requiring 14 million trees1 and 12 million barrels of oil.2
- The pulp and paper industry is the 2nd largest industrial user of energy in the U.S.3
- More than 46,000 pieces of plastic contaminate each square mile of our oceans.4
- Over 100,000 marine animals die every year from plastic entanglement.5
- Only 1% of plastic bags are recycled annually.6
1- "Paper or Plastic?, Delicious Living Magazine, March 2002.
2- Reusable Bags Tackle Plastic Bag Mess, Organic Trade Association.
3- "Paper Cuts: Recovering the Paper Landscape", Abromovitz & Mattoon, Worldwatch Institute, Washington DC, 1999.
4- Keep the Sea Plastic Free, Bin It, Australian Government, Department of the Environment and Heritage
5- Turtles Don't Shop, Earth Resource Foundation.
6- Plastic Bags: A Necessary Eyesore?, Worldwatch Institute.
Tips to remember your bags
Put your coupons in your bag and keep it by the door.
Keep reusable bags in the trunk of your car and put a small note on the dashboard to remind you to bring them.
Purchase a few compact reusable bags that you can keep with you in a purse, jacket pocket, or backpack, or attach to your keychain.
Give a fun bag to someone as a gift and tell them why they should use it.
Decorate your own bag. Ask the kids to remind you to bring your bags as part of earning their allowance.
Recently BayROC asked hundreds of people how they would remember to bring their reusable bag to the store. Here are some of their favorite ideas, broken down by category of shopper.
Parents
Teach my kids to remind me
Dog owners
Attach to dog leash
Cyclists
Attach to my bike
Drivers
Put it back into the car after I empty it
Keep bags in the car and at the office
Leave it in the driver’s side pocket of the car
Tips for at home
Clip the bag to your shopping list
Hang it on the front door knob
Include bag in shopping list as Item # 1
Tips for the office
Keep it on my desk
Leave it in the bag that I bring to work
Shoppers on the move
Keep it in my backpack
Last updated: April 16, 2009
