Monday, September 4, 2017

Sustainable September 2017 - Day Five

SEPTEMBER 5 (TUESDAY)

TINY CHANGES - SHOPPINGS BAGS

Hi everyone,

AS you now know, this week of Sustainable September will all be about Tiny Changes. Little things you can do to make the world of difference. Eco Kindnesses are simple and hopefully easy. Like buying, using and taking a reusable water bottle everywhere you go. LIke me... Here is a photo of me writing todays blog post.


Yesterdays blog post was all about reusable water bottles, todays is all about Shopping bags.

Sustainable September Day Five: Swap plastic shopping bags for reusable fabric bags.

How bad are plastic bags? The following video explains what (for Americans) is the impact of having plastic shopping bags available. But it is not very different from Australia and the rest of the world.


In Western Australia there is currently a huge push to institute a ban of plastic bags, following several other Australian states. It has been as a result of the War on Waste Programme on television.

Check out the following clip from a local television station.


The thing is that it is not hard to be prepared for shopping and taking reusable bags. For me, I am always prepared. I keep my reusable fabric Shopping bag in my handbag (at least 6 ones that roll up fairly small).

Like this...

Sometimes I need bigger bags, usually for frozen goods.

I tend to take insulated bags and keep them in the car. That way, if i forget the insulated bags when i get into the shops, i can get the frozen goods into my roll-up bags, then transfer them into the insulated bags later. A friend of mine keeps an esky in the car for this purpose.

Mum and I share a car, and with mums volunteer position with the Country Women's Association, we cant keep lots of stuff in the boot. Because we are regularly taking deliveries for a range of charities there is not much space for more than a couple insulated bags, especially a hard shell esky.

In a recent news article, about plasic bags in my home state, some people are already making a transition away from single use plastic bags. Click here for a link to that article

ACTIVITY: Making your own reusable shopping bags. I recently started making my own reusable shopping bags that roll up and fit into your handbag. In the future I am hoping to add the instructions of how to make the ones i do. In the mean time here is a super easy 5minute video on how to make one in the meantime.



If you are looking for a different type or want one that rolls up for your handbag there are a lot of these reusable shopping bag patterns online including Pinterest and Google. Or you can come up with your own pattern!

Can't Sew? No problem! Here is an activity for you!

Upcycle old singlet tops or t-shirts to make new shopping bags.
Here is a little video on how to upcycle an old shirt for that purpose.


I hope you are enjoying this months blog posts so far. 

If you are looking for an environmentally friendly kindness idea, well you could make some of these for your friends too! 

With lots of love, 
Daena 

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