What are we talking about?

There’s a significant bag story to the shopping bags we now call a ‘name of grocery store’ bag or grocery bags. It has come from being a brown bag to a plastic bag, and in some places back down to a bag, but to specific individuals, their shopping bag, and I don’t mean stealing, crazy! We will now dive into the history, evolution/revolution, and finally, what I think we should do.

The B.ack S.tory

Initially, shoppers would use baskets or maybe even blankets as their holders for their things, or they’ll order them for delivery. It wasn’t until 1852 that the machine was invented to create paper shopping bags. In 1871 a more stable bag was designed to hold more than the most substantial basic bags before, and by 1883, the bag that we know today was created, the folded brown bag.

According to shoppingbag.com, Walter H. Deubner was a small grocery store owner in St. Paul, Minnesota, and he wanted to find a way to make more money more conveniently. This was a business and creative man at its finest, using a brown bag with the correct string of rope and selling them for an extra $2 to hold someone’s groceries. That was only the start; with the growth of his business, four years later, his bags were durable enough to carry up to 75 pounds of groceries. The bag was so brilliant Deubner expanded, creating a patent and naming his creation after himself, ‘Deubner Shopping Bag’. (Rich man**). Deubner is recognized to be the first to create the first paper tote and reusable bag.

Evolution

The tote was Deubner’s bag for a while, but business eventually used it as their own version of promotion. The bags became branded with that business bag, for instance, a Walmart bag. Because status was required to be known, people used bag branding to show off their income; now, people still do this, but not as much because thieves are watching, and let’s just say they will hide it in their other bags. That is then, the movement of custom bags as one we know today is Target, their white and red Target symbol on their bags, we will forever know what store that is. Speaking of target bags, after the updated paper customized bags, that is the creation of the Target plastic bag, well, any grocery store that does not use brown, I guess. Besides Kroger, they use robust, durable paper bags when you order groceries for pick-up, and it isn’t even the basic brown; it’s white, with a giant blue K.

Eventually, bags have evolved into eco-friendly shopping bags (to be honest, they just became back to the brown bags (call that reincarnation)). Eco-friendly and compostable/ landfill-degradable bags are now the subsequent invention of sustainable bags.

Revolution

The reason for the reincarnation of the newly renovated vintage bag was the sole factor of environmental problems. We are exposed to microplastics in the air, water, and soil. Houston is one of many who need to stop drinking its sink water. We are still stuck because of water bottles and transportation, and don’t get me started on the sun. The grocery bag is actually “one of the major challenges to marine life”, as said by the IOPScience. The plastic bag trend has been so bad that in 2008 China stopped using plastic bags, which forced everyone to get creative. It is said that plastic bags pollute the air through raw material extraction, manufacturing process, and end-of-life treatment.

China was not the only one to put a stop to bad air quality, some places, such as England, have a tax on non-reusable bags,California and South Africa both put a ban on single-use bags, and Europe is just trying to sustain the environment. I know a store personally, Sally’s, the cosmetic store, charges for a bag, and you can choose between a paper bag and a reusable bag made from recycled material which is pretty cool. Some totes are even sold as quick reusable grab check-out lines just for people who instead have a bag as such rather than the regular plastic sacks.

Closing

Personally, I believe we can make a change as individuals in this world. Add style to your shopping spree and get those bags to match your shopping outfit. Several reusable bags, specifically reusable bags, that are eco-friendly; even if you donate them or recycle them, the will become a bag for another. Certain reusable bags can be used for specfic stores, and they can all stay in your car and are always accessible, just like the umbrella sitting under your passenger seat. If you have plastic grocery bags, use them as recyclable material in which you put your recycled paper; at least kill two birds with one stone. The more we are organized, the more we can get rid of and clean. We are the next source, and climate change depends on us, and it will not change for the better if we cannot get it together.

References

"Blog – Swedbrand Group." https://www.swedbrand-group.com/blog/.

"History - Reusable Bags." https://reusablebagz.weebly.com/history.html.

"The Environmental Impact of Plastic Grocery Bags and Their ... - IOPscience." 01 Apr. 2022, https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1755-1315/1011/1/012050.

"Sally Beauty going vegan and stoping single-use plastic bags." 02 Jan. 2020, https://www.cosmeticsdesign.com/Article/2020/01/02/Sally-Beauty-going-vegan-and-stoping-single-use-plastic-bags.

"History of Shopping Bags, First Bag, Walter H. Deubner." https://www.shoppingbags.com/history-of-shopping-bags.php.

"The Evolution of the Shopping Bag — IMPAK." https://www.impakretail.com/journal/the-evolution-of-the-shopping-bag.

"The History of The Shopping Bag: Part One – Reusable Bags." https://www.factorydirectpromos.com/blog/the-history-of-the-shopping-bag-part-one-reusable-bags/.