The polythene bag, known to many of us as the plastic bag, is ubiquitous with modern living, and has a multitude of uses. Yet, considering this humble bag is so useful, it has such a bad press. The use of plastic bags has been seen as ecologically unfriendly. Yet the polythene bag, if used correctly, can be a positive form of packaging for everyone, both retailers and customers, and even the environment. So read on and see why the plastic bag is such a useful tool.
As a packaging product, they are lighter and cleaner than their counterparts of paper or cloth. Polythene bags are cheaper on the production line, than their bags on the market. Cloth bags can become a home for bacteria, if you don’t clean them regularly. The polythene bag is much more durable than paper, with less chance of tearing, especially in the rain, extending their life to be used over and over again.
Polythene bags are versatile
Now is the time to look at just how versatile the polythene bag really is, and see how it can benefit our daily lives:
- Once it has transported all purchased shopping items home, it can be re-used in the smaller trash containers, all around the house.
- Ideal for packing items away in storage, keeping them protected from dust for as long needed.
- For the retailer, they are an excellent way of advertising.
- For the customer, they are a cheap means to carry around purchased items when shopping.
- They are light to carry, but strong, making them ideal if you are attending an all-day event, such as the Olympics. You can carry personal belongings around, such as a lunch box, bottles of water, spare towels, spare socks and jumpers, in fact, just about anything that is needed for a day out. They hook easily into the hand, and can carry a good amount of items. Once the lunch is consumed, rubbish from the refreshments can be popped into the polythene trash bag, preventing litter in public places. You can then transport the rubbish home in the polythene bag.
- Here’s an unusual one, but useful; if caught out in the rain at an event like the Olympics then no worries, the light plastic bag can double as a handy shelter from the downpour, enabling spectators to continue watching the events at the games without getting soaking wet.
Despite the belief that polythene bags are bad for the environment, they can actually be better than the alternative. Because they are so much lighter, they take up less space in the landfill sites than paper. Further, polythene bags pollute less in production, using less energy than it does to make paper bags. There are problems, regarding biodegradability, but with a good strategy for recycling, this could be less of a problem than it is at present. There are estimated to be a trillion plastic bags worldwide, so they are here to stay. If everyone made the effort to recycle all plastic, this material could then be re-used to make new bags, all over again. By doing this simple task, it would soon make polythene bags an Eco-Friendly product.