How Green Are Reusable Bags?

This story is part of a series called that will air throughout August on All Things Considered. The series examines some of the things Americans Michael Kors Outlet are doing — and buying — to help the environment and whether those steps really are as "green" as they seem.

Business are selling them, even giving them away hoping they will replace those plastic grocery bags that have become something of a poster child for environmental waste and destruction. From the Whole Foods Market to Home Depot, stores are jumping on the reusable-bag Michael Kors Factory Outlet bandwagon, delighting many eco-minded shoppers.

The Whole Foods bag, for example, is made of mostly recycled plastic — ecologically better than a bag made from PVC or with harsh chemical dyes, for example. But the bags are also shipped thousands of miles from overseas. So every reusable bag is a mixed bag, baffling Michael Kors Outlet consumers and experts alike.

"There are a lot of different characteristics," Hoover says. "And it can be hard to say, 'Organic and fair trade and local cloth is better than recycled content polypropylene from China.' There are too many parameters to come up with a clear winner." Stores too struggle with Michael Kors Outlet Stores the trade-offs. Last year, Wal-Mart started selling a black bag that was made entirely from recycled bottles. Now, it offers a cheaper blue bag that is thinner and uses less plastic. On the other hand, however, only a third of the plastic in the new blue bag is recycled.

And, it lasts only about half as long as the black one. "I always forget [my re-usable bags.] So they sit in the car," says Paul Briner, a contractor in Boston, loading his groceries into a paper bag at the check-out of the Whole Foods Market. "I still prefer the plastic," says another shopper, firefighter Rob Williams.

Whole Foods offers only paper bags, but when he's shopping at other stores that still offer plastic, "I always take the plastic," Williams says. "I'm just being honest." "For 5 or 10 percent Michael Kors Canada of the population, I'll call them 'the tree-huggers,' it's OK, they're going to do it anyway," Lilienfeld says. "The vegetarians are going to do it anyway. The rest of us need an incentive." And it's not only habits at the grocery store that will need to change.

Once people no longer have a ready supply of old grocery bags stashed at home, they will have to find new ways to pick up their dog poop or line their bathroom waste baskets. If people just go out and buy other plastic bags, it will defeat the purpose. As people begin to think more about their shopping bags, Lilienfield says he hopes they'll also start to think more about what's in the bag as well.