HiperDino supermarket leads the way with green reusable shopping bags

I was very pleased to see that the Spanish HiperDino supermarket chain has taken a big step forward in combating the problem being caused by plastic, which is polluting the oceans of the world. HiperDino in Tenerife are now supplying large bright green reusable shopping bags, and, as of today, I am happy to have one.

This new option is encouraging shoppers to use these bags instead of the usual single use plastic bags that have been handed out in countless numbers for years, and that are now causing a serious threat to the environment and marine life in particular.

The problem with plastic, especially single use plastic is that it cannot biodegrade and so ends up in the natural environment where it stays and endangers animals that live there. A very great deal of it goes into the world's oceans where it is accumulating in vast gyres of floating plastic. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which is one of these gyres, is estimated to be twice the size of Texas and growing daily!

Plastic simply breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces after sunlight, time and the erosion caused by wave action have worked upon it. These smaller pieces can easily be swallowed whole by marine creatures. The smallest bits of plastic get eaten by plankton feeders and the large items, including plastic bags, get swallowed by whales, turtles and seabirds. Every year millions of these marine animals are being killed by plastic that they have eaten and cannot digest or pass through them.

Not only that but plastic accumulates other poisons such as pesticides and when it is eaten it enters the food chain and ultimately that means us. Small plankton feeding fish and other sea creatures get eaten by larger fish and we eat them.

Adventurer, environmentalist and author David de Rothschild sailed across the Pacific Ocean in the spring and summer of 2010 on a boat made up of 12,500 recycled plastic bottles to draw attention to this problem. David's boat was named the Plastiki, and he and his crew documented their epic journey and what they saw along the way. Sadly they didn't see many marine animals or seabirds but they did pass by loads and loads of floating plastic rubbish.

The solution being called for is for people to reduce, reuse, recycle and refuse plastic as much as possible. We also need to rethink our usage of this material.

Using reusable shopping bags made out of canvas, cloth or recycled plastic fabric all help reduce the amount of plastic being so needlessly wasted and so really is the way forward for all people concerned with green living issues.

The new reusable shopping bag from HiperDino has a conspicuous three arrows going around in a circle emblazoned on its front. Inside the arrows are the words: "TU BOLSA", which means "Your bag" in Spanish. This is illustrating that your bag is helping with recycling.

It also has the slogan "Menos plástico, más vida", which translated means, "Less plastic, more life!" It shows a minus sign and a plastic shopping bag and a plus sign and a healthy tree.

"¡Reutilízame!" meaning "Reutilise or Reuse" is also printed on the bag. Its message is clear: to use less plastic and to make use of a reusable shopping bag!

HiperDino are to be highly commended for making these reusable shopping bags available at their supermarkets. Let us hope that all the others follow their lead. I know I will be happy to do my shopping in a big green HiperDino shopping bag!

Copyright © 2011 Steve Andrews. All Rights Reserved.