While plastic bags are convenient for many things in our lives, they take a heavy toll on the environment, what with your average single-use plastic bag taking anywhere between 15 to 1000 years to decompose.

Of course, you might think, “Well, it’s just one plastic bag, how bad can it be?” 

And you certainly wouldn’t be alone. Studies in environmental psychology show that as individuals, we tend to think about our individual impact on the environment. But because there are billions of us on this planet using plastic bags, that means that there are at least a billion of these things that go to waste and pile up in landfills and oceans.

The Problem of Disposable Plastics in Australia

According to the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) lightweight plastic shopping bags made up 1.6 per cent of litter based on number of items. In 2002, it was estimated that 50 to 80 million plastic bags ended up as litter every year. Of that number, only 10 to 20 million are successfully retrieved through clean-up activities—the rest end up in the environment.

The solution is simple: replace plastic bags with more sustainable alternatives like paper bags or non-woven bags.

In Defence of Paper Bags

While it’s true that the manufacturing of paper products used to take a heavy toll on the world’s forests, the practice of sourcing pulp—the material used to make paper—in a more sustainable manner has helped to solve this problem.

According to Two Sides Australia, the Australian paper industry depends on sustainable forests as a reliable supply of wood fibre. In fact, planted forests in Australia have grown to two million hectares over the last two decades, due largely to growing awareness of sustainable paper.

In other words, paper bags are an environmentally friendlier alternative to single-use plastics. And don’t forget, paper bags are 100 per cent recyclable.

What Are Non-Woven Bags?

Non-woven polypropylene bags, also known as eco-bags or NWPP bags, are made of recyclable plastic materials, hence their designation as an eco-friendly product. They can be designed to have a ‘woven’ or fabric-like appearance by pressing a cross-thatched pattern onto the material.

And because of its durability and flexibility, won-woven polypropylene is a popular choice among manufacturers of reusable shopping bags. Eco bags are strong, easy to customise, and can be reused over and over again, which means fewer single-use plastics end up in landfills.

At Smartbag, we carry a wide range of eco-bags and paper packaging solutions. To learn more about our brown and white bags, as well as our reusable shopping bags, get in touch with the Smartbag team on our Contact Page.