National

Sustainability First: Which Bag Is Greener: Plastic vs Reusable

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – It’s the holiday season and that means its one of the busiest times of the year for shoppers, with days like Black Friday and Super Saturday promising to pump out some of the highest volumes of packaging and wrapping materials that will be produced annually.

Published

2 weeks ago

December 5, 2024

Marlena Leonard

It means tons of otherwise unexpected plastics ending up in landfills and eventually the sea potentially disturbing ecosystems and harming wildlife.

Here at home we, made an effort to do our part in reducing that waste- the Bahamas’ Environmental Protection (control of plastic pollution) Act of 2019 effectively banned the use of bags made of single plastic, also prompting a switch to new materials being used for utensils.

However, there have been some questioning the amount of plastic bags in circulation, when the ban also bans the import and distribution of the bags.

Now the Consumer Protection Commission is inviting larger retailers to provide complementary reusable bags at checkout, and reminding people of the kinds of reusable bags available like:

-a classic paper bag…

-jute bags made of plant fiber…

-cotton bags from natural fibers…

-and hemp bags, which require less chemicals and water to produce…