Produce Bags: The New Target of Plastic Bag Bans

Apr 9, 2012 12:42:00 PM

With more and more cities such as San Jose, CA adopting the ban on plastic bags, the focus is now being turned to the the produce aisles. While you may not be able to get a plastic bag for your groceries at the checkout stand (or may have to pay .10 cents per recycled bag), you still can separate your fruits and vegetables in the single use plastic bags found in the produce aisles. 

What is the purpose of banning plastic bags, if the produce aisle harbors them by the thousands, and many shoppers end up with more plastic produce bags than actual plastic bags from the checkout counter? That is exactly the reason that activists and officials are targeting produce departments.

Speaking on the issue personally, I never really felt the need to use these environmentally destructive produce bags. When I buy fruits or vegetables, it is usually in small quantities and I have no problem with them being loose in my shopping basket. However, I know that many people buy in larger quantities and may have some concerns with their produce being loose amongst their other groceries.

Eco-friendly options if you buy produce in bulk:

  1. Use mesh produce bags or other reusable eco-friendly bags.
  2. Ask your grocer to use BioBag compostable produce bags like the ones we  offer.
  3. Skip using a bag altogether!
  4. Reuse your produce bags. 

Do you have any other ideas or tips to suggest to the list above? If so, we'd love to read them! Just leave your tips/ideas in the comment section below.

Ken Jacobus

Written by Ken Jacobus

Ken Jacobus is CEO and founder of Good Start Packaging. He works with restaurants and other organizations around the U.S. to help them find the best sustainable alternatives to traditional plastic take out food containers. When not busy trying to eliminate landfills and plastic, he hikes, bikes, skis, reads, and plays with his family around his home in southern New Hampshire.

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