REUSABLE GROCERY BAGS: DO I REALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

a lady in army green jacket with a bag on her back and carrying a green eco-friendly grocery bag black text with white background white nup logo

Have you ever wondered what the impact of using reusable bags in the grocery store is and do we make a difference when we do? We wondered the same so we've looked into it for you.

Producing 1 plastic bag has a tiny environmental impact but when a lot of us, use a lot of it, this is where the biggest problem lie. A study in the UK showed that it's not enough to switch to a reusable bag. The key is to actually re-use that bag to a certain number of times to at least offset the resources used to create it. This study looked into the different type of commonly used re-usable bags and did a LCA (Life Cycle Analysis). An LCA is a method used to evaluate the environmental impact of a product through its whole life cycle from extraction reaw materials, manufacturing, use, recycling and final end of life (disposal)

There are 3 major types of re-usable bags and the number of times you should use it to be able to 'breakeven' with the resources used to make it:

#1 Brown Paper Bag

Brown paper bags need to be used at least 4x to be considered environmentally friendly but most paper bags are not durable enough to be re-used

#2 Polypropylene

The most common reusable bag that you would typically get at the supermarket.

When you use this bag more than 14 times, it already becomes a very good alternative to single-use plastic bags

#3 Cotton Bag

Cotton takes a huge toll on the environment when produced. So you have to use it more than 173 times for it to be environmentally friendly.

The aim here is to exceed as much as possible these bags to be able to help reduce waste and the use of resources as much as possible. The fewer re-usable bags you own and the more frequent you re-use them, the better for our environment. So yes, re-using your grocery bag does have a positive impact. The more you re-use the same bag, the bigger your impact will be. Keep on going and share this.

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See what people are saying...

For our new years resolution we as a family wanted to use less plastic. I chose the Nup toothbrushes together with my 10 year old daughter and she absolutely loves the designs! Great quality and great design!

Linda Grootberg, Nup Customer

I normally have medium bristles so I was a bit skeptical if this toothbrush would clean my teeth properly. Luckily they do a very good job. Will continue to buy here.

Boris Stein, Nup Customer

Love these!!! I bought Bamboo toothbrushes before from other brands but they look so boring. If I am going to help the earth I might as well do it with a fun design on the product!

Miranda Cheung, Nup Customer

I bought a couple for my whole family. What's great about it is each pack has 4 different designs so each of us (family of 4) tell who owns which. This month indicator is a great plus.

Faith Manuel, Nup Customer

Happy with it. First of all, I I would choose these toothbrushes even if sustainability was not a factor. I was really wasn't sure if I was going to like these, but wanted to check them out, because I'm step-by-step working on reducing my trash impact on the world in every way I can, small and large. Now I'm happy to report that I love the way these feel in my hand and in my mouth. The contour of the bristles is effective in getting good surface contact, and they are just the right balance between firm and gentle. I'm not sure what the bristles are made of, but at least my plastic trash has been reduced in a great way.

Louise Zimmerman, Nup Customer

These toothbrushes are fabulous! I can't speak highly enough about them. Perfect adult size tooth brush ... not too stiff not too soft. The handle fits nicely in your hands. So much nicer than plastic! I highly recommend

Jordan Rhodes, Nup Customer

Quality is good. I am buying this for our whole family! This is will be a life changing moment for us.

Edwin Alexander, Nup Customer

I was looking for an environmentally friendly toothbrush for a while. Although, I was afraid that the bristles would be too soft (which most of the bamboo toothbrushes are), but this one was great!! It was much more sturdy than I expected and I LOVE it. It comes with four toothbrushes so I gave one to my brother and hopefully I can convince my other family members to make the switch.

Haley Fuller, Nup Customer

I have been making an effort to be better not only to my body (using less chemicals, more organic, more natural) and also to the environment. When I realized even my toothbrushes can stick around far past their use causing more waste, I wanted to try something better. I found these toothbrushes and, with this one single purchase, have not only done something small to save the planet (hey, every little bit counts, right?) but also have toothbrushes for a solid year. These are great because they have these nice designs- and using one brush for three months each gets me through the year. I think all of my family is about to switch to these! They're great and I'm very happy to be doing my small part.

Opal Waters, Nup Customer

My entire family of 4 has been using these for about a month and I haven't had one complaint, and as anyone with kids and a husband knows, that means A LOT! Getting used to a wooden handle versus a plastic one takes a little getting used to, but the bamboo is of a high quality and it is not at all abrasive and over all, it is relatively smooth. It's not like you feel as if you are going to get splinters in your moth or that it is going to eventually break in half! My youngest is a toothbrush chewer abuses all of her toothbrushes horribly and this one held up great! I was also really impressed with the bristles. I was expecting them to be pretty tough but they were just the right texture to feel like they were really getting the job done but not hurting the gums at all.

Krista Reeves, Nup Customer