23 reasons to ditch single use plastic bags
It is only now that the awareness on eco-friendly items and especially reusable bags are becoming common knowledge in Malaysia. In 2008 when Tiny Tapir first brought in RUME bags it was a challenge trying to convince people to use them instead of plastic bags. There are some people who joined our crusade in those early days and we’ll be holding a special Sale programme just for those early Taparians in the near future but for all of those who are new to eco-conscious living we welcome you with open arms and we will try our best to provide discounts for your benefit and the benefit of our country/environment.
Finally the Malaysian government realises the benefits of reusable bags and is actually taking steps to making it mandatory in many cases.
We challenged ourselves today on the 23rd of July to list down 23 reason why you should ditch single use plastic bags. Let’s see if we can do it.
Plastic bags take 15 to 1,000 years to break down, depending on the environment and landfill and during the photo degradation process which means they don’t really decompose they leach toxins into our soil and water. So by using a reusable bag you take the risk out of toxic contaminants coming back to you and the effect you have on the environment as a whole.
An estimated 100,000 turtles and countless sea animals perish because of plastic bags in the sea.
Plastic bags don’t always stay in one place they have a tendency to float or move making them even more difficult to remove from our environment compared to other single use items.
The cost of recycling plastic bags far outweigh their value so nobody is going to make money recycling them.
Government agencies in countries that care about the appearance of their beaches spend millions trying to clean up their coastal lines. The state of California in the US spends close to USD300 million on clean up every year.
Plastic bags alone make up about 10% of washed-up debris that litter our coastlines.
Discarded plastic bags get to travel the world!! How lucky for them. Plastic bags end up as far as the arctic circle.
Plastic bags are made from petroleum products and natural gas, both non-renewable resources.
More than 12 nations have banned or taxed disposable bags in the past 5 years, Malaysia has to catch up quickly, so join the revolution.
Now many shops in Malaysia are already charging for plastic bags, why waste money, buy a cool reusable bag here: tinytapir.com/store and stand apart.
One person using reusable bags over their lifetime would remove more than 22,000 plastic bags from our environment.
If everybody in Klang Valley used one less grocery bag, it would cut waste by 9.7 million Kgs and save the city estimated around RM 800K in disposal costs each year.
Reusable bags are strong and can be used for many years and carry far more in weight than plastic bags can.
They are easier to pack. You never have to use your saliva to open a plastic bag every again!!!
Carrying reusable bags are much more comfortable than plastic bags. This is without a doubt on big plus.
They never split unlike plastic bags, how many times have you dropped your groceries because the bag was not strong enough.
Reusable bags are cool to look at unlike the plastic bags. They way things look does apparently improve our state of mind. So why not look at something beautiful rather than unsightly.
The petroleum used to produce 14 plastic bags can driver a car 1.6 Kilometres.
Plastic bags cause flooding. In Malaysia we have open drainage everywhere and inevitably plastic bags get caught up in there block storm/rain water drainage.
It require energy to produce plastic bags, so that adds to it’s negative effect on our planet as compared to reusable bags where it is one off.
They are easily transportable so you can take them everywhere.
You can clean it if it gets dirty.
How many times have we seen plastic bags on the side of the road in Malaysia. Without the use of plastic bags there would be less plastic litter on our city streets.
Just a reminder, although it’s nice to get a free reusable bag from organizations and companies, they are usually made of cheap material and bulky. They also also tend to not look very nice. They are using you as a free billboard. Make you own stand buy a reusable bag that represents your personality : https://www.tinytapir.com/store/Reusable-Bags-%26-Others-c16605349
