Consider using reusable bags for your shopping needs this holiday season

Reusable Bag

The holiday season is upon us and many Canadians will soon be shopping for and exchanging gifts. This time of year includes the single largest shopping day of the year, Boxing Day, and throughout just the month of December most retailers take in almost half of their annual sales.

Most of these purchases are presented to loved ones in wasteful paper wrapping and in some unfortunate cases, rewrapped in even more paper  wrapping and then given to someone else next year.   According to the Regional District of Nanaimo, British Columbia, an extra 300,000 tons of gift wrap and shopping bag waste heads to landfills across Canada during the holiday season.

The Case for Reusable Bags

Canadians spend more than $16 billion on gifts throughout the holidays, and if every Canadian used reusable bags to wrap just three presents, almost 35,000 tons of this would-be garbage would just disappear.

A gift in themselves, reusable bags can be used to wrap and transport presents. Unlike gift bags however, reusable shopping bags can either be kept by the recipient to shop with later or used to wrap other presents with. They also give the gift giver a chance to be creative, using ribbon, glitter glue and other decorations to personalize their eco-friendly gift bag for that special someone.

Don’t worry about setting aside time to wrap presents, and enjoy the holiday season without the extra cost and hassle of tape and scissors. And remember, gift wrap and plastic, single-use shopping bags account for a significant amount of Canada’s waste throughout the rest of the year too. A simple, cost-effective and convenient change in your shopping and gift wrapping habits all year round can have a huge and positive impact on the environment.