Image by janjf93 from Pixabay

Amazing new discovery! Reusable shopping bags may be good for the environment, but may also be dangerous to your health.

Actually this isn’t a new discovery, there are articles on the internet from up to ten years ago explaining that reusable bags can be a breeding ground for bacteria. I guess we are supposed to wash and sanitize those bags after every use. Did you ever think of that? Me neither. But there it is; once you think about it it becomes obvious.

How is the supermarket supposed to know whether you are bringing sanitized bags into their store? It’s impossible. For that reason, at least one Western Canadian supermarket chain has announced that they are banning reusable bags and going back to using plastic bags.

Plastic bags don’t have to be bad for the environment. Most of us reused them for garbage bags and other practical purposes. Which would be more effective, a massive campaign to educate people to sanitize their reusable bags , or a massive campaign to educate people to reuse or recycle plastic bags? I would vote for the latter, as I can’t think of any way to evaluate the effectiveness of the first option.