Reusable shopping bag
A study commissioned by the United Kingdom Environment Agency in 2005 found that the average cotton bag is used only 51 times before being thrown away.
[citation needed] The apparel industry promotes reusable shopping bags as sustainable fashion.
[7] As stores receive diminishing returns due to saturated markets, there are concerns that prices will drop and they will become the new single-use bag.
The ones sold in supermarkets often have designs related to nature, such as prints of trees or that of the earth, in order to emphasize environmental issues.
One startup company out of Duluth, Minnesota, embroiders their bags with their local Aerial Lift Bridge on it.
Some retailers such as Whole Foods Market and Target offer a cash discount for bringing in reusable bags.
[14] It was the first closed-loop recycling initiative; returned and broken bags are made into black benches places outside Waitrose stores.
[citation needed] Similar bags are made of jute, canvas, calico or hemp but are not discussed here.
[20] A 2010 joint University of Arizona and Limo Loma University study (sponsored by the American Chemistry Council, a trade group that advocates on behalf of disposable plastic bag manufacturers) they found that "Reusable grocery bags can be a breeding ground for dangerous foodborne bacteria and pose a serious risk to public health".
[23] In September 2010, "Wegmans Food Markets Inc., owner of a chain of East Coast supermarkets, announced it would replace reusable shopping bags after a consumer group found the sacks had high levels of lead.
Senator Charles Schumer, to investigate the reusable bags commonly distributed by grocery stores and large retail chains.
"[28] Sears' Canadian stores announced a recall on reusable bags because of similar findings on January 6, 2011.
[29] On January 12, 2011, The Center for Environmental Health announced Disney-themed bags from U.S. grocery chain Safeway have been found to contain levels of lead 15 to 17 times the current federal limit of 300ppm.
In January 2011, USA Today ran an article based on a report from the Center for Consumer Freedom, a front group for the "hospitality industries", that bags sold in the U.S. by Bloom, Giant, Giant Eagle, Safeway, Walgreens, and other grocery chains and retailers contained levels of lead in excess of 100 parts per million, the maximum amount allowed under law in many U.S. states.
They have not produced their testing methods and data, and many organizations feel this was an attempt to discredit the use of reusable bags.
[32] Other concerns have been raised about the safety of reusable bags due to infrequent washing and the presence of bacteria.
[33] In May 2012, Oregon Public Health published a study in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, traced an outbreak of the dangerous norovirus to a reusable grocery bag that members of a Beaverton girls' soccer team passed around when they shared cookies.
[37] The legislation to discourage plastic bag use has been passed in parts of Hong Kong, Ireland, South Africa, the United States, Canada, and Taiwan.
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.
[46] The brand Envirosax started out producing reusable shopping bags, but have expanded their lines with more color and pattern options, in addition to licensing properties like Sesame Street.
[52] Other evaluators have used "walk tests" of people carrying bags with 10 kg (22 lb) of mixed loads for a distance of 175 feet (approx.
