Paper or.... cloth
Bookstore to begin replacing plastic bags with cloth bag option
Liz Correia
Issue date: 5/1/08 Section: Campus News
As of next fall, Bridgewater State College Bookstore, will be joining in sustainability efforts and selling cloth bags to encourage students not to use plastic shopping bags.
These totes will be similar to ones that many stores, such as Stop and Shop and Target are now offering, and will be sold for approximately 99 cents.
"Follett, the company that owns the bookstore is really encouraging this decision and getting on board with the recent sustainability efforts," explained bookstore manager Jack Murphy. "The question now, is how cheap we can make the bags."
Americans go through over 100 billion plastic bags a year, and approximately 380 million of these bags are thrown away each year. This is in comparison to the 500 billion to one trillion plastic bags that are used worldwide each year, millions of which end up as litter, or as trash in the landfill.
Plastic bags can take between 15 and 1,000 years to break down in the environment and are manufactured from oil and gas, both of which are non-renewable sources.
Plastic bags were introduced in 1970 and make up around 90 percent of all shopping bags. The mass amount of bags that are produced come as a result of the cheap price that it costs to make them
Recently, many stores have begun to sell reusable cloth bags.
Some stores, such as IKEA have even charged five cents per plastic bag that a customer uses. This is minimal compared to stores in countries such as Germany who charge close to a dollar for a plastic bag. These charges are efforts to reduce the waste of such bags.
When asked whether students would be charged for plastic bags, Murphy said that he did not predict that to become the case, as it is a "very aggressive way to approach things."
Students will however, be allowed to bring their own reusable bags, as long as they are empty. It is bookstore policy that any book bags and purses be left at the entrance on designated selves.
These totes will be similar to ones that many stores, such as Stop and Shop and Target are now offering, and will be sold for approximately 99 cents.
"Follett, the company that owns the bookstore is really encouraging this decision and getting on board with the recent sustainability efforts," explained bookstore manager Jack Murphy. "The question now, is how cheap we can make the bags."
Americans go through over 100 billion plastic bags a year, and approximately 380 million of these bags are thrown away each year. This is in comparison to the 500 billion to one trillion plastic bags that are used worldwide each year, millions of which end up as litter, or as trash in the landfill.
Plastic bags can take between 15 and 1,000 years to break down in the environment and are manufactured from oil and gas, both of which are non-renewable sources.
Plastic bags were introduced in 1970 and make up around 90 percent of all shopping bags. The mass amount of bags that are produced come as a result of the cheap price that it costs to make them
Recently, many stores have begun to sell reusable cloth bags.
Some stores, such as IKEA have even charged five cents per plastic bag that a customer uses. This is minimal compared to stores in countries such as Germany who charge close to a dollar for a plastic bag. These charges are efforts to reduce the waste of such bags.
When asked whether students would be charged for plastic bags, Murphy said that he did not predict that to become the case, as it is a "very aggressive way to approach things."
Students will however, be allowed to bring their own reusable bags, as long as they are empty. It is bookstore policy that any book bags and purses be left at the entrance on designated selves.
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