Good bye plastic bag!

Since 2017 more and more Austrian retailers and supermarkets are banning the good old plastic bags from their stores. In February the last plastic bag left the storage of the big corporate groups. It´s the time of the paper and reusable bags. It may be a small step, but it´s definitely a step into the right direction and an awareness raising one.

Compared to other countries of the EU, Austria was with an average of 0,8kg plastic bag disposal per household and year below the norm. But still, if you add these numbers up, you´ll get 6 tons of plastic bag waste in a year for the whole country. Because of the recent step of banning plastic bags by 2017 the governmental department says they were able to cut the numbers by 89 million bags in 2016.

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Because everyone has the future of our planet in his own hands, here are some tips how you can ave money and the environment in the same time.

• Unpacked groceries are often easily to be found at local markets and organic food stores. Meanwhile there are even stores popping up in Europe which sell ONLY unpacked groceries.
  

If you prefer buying in supermarkets you could take account of the following:

• Buying at the counter instead of the multideck cabinet promises less waste in the long run. At some supermarket counters you can even bring your own boxes
• The packed package inside the package? Seriously? Maybe switch to the goods which are packed lightly.
• Are you buying bottled water? In most of the countries and even cities tab water is drinkable. And if it isnt where you live, you may want to consider buying a water filter system. It´s a one time investment. It saves you money in the long run, and saves the environment immidiately.
• Avoid packed bread, fruits and vegetables.
• Reusable fruit-nets are a good alternative for plastic bags.
• The Internet is full of yummy 15-minutes-recipes. You do not really want the ready mades, do you?
• In order to close the circle: no more plastic bags please!
  

Just bring your own basket, backpack, box, bag, trolley or whatever you prefer. It´s easy and convenient.

In this sense: don´t buy waste

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_{Article written by @nicoletta and translated by @flurgx - both for for the @gnc}