The Market, which used to be one of BGSU’s biggest sources of single-use plastic bags, turned to reusable shopping bags at the start of this school year.
Plastic bags are a concern to environmental activists as these bags take a long time to decompose and contaminate the ocean, the soil or whatever kind of environment they end up in. In response to these concerns, the Market — formerly known as Outtakes — introduced reusable bags made by the BGSU Environmental Action Group to replace plastic bags.
“It takes a little bit of practice, just like anything you started doing. Once it gets in your mind and habit, I do think (it) is easy. I myself went through that transition phase when trying to use a reusable bag in the grocery store,” Nicholas Hennessy, manager of sustainability at Campus Operations, said.
Some students enjoy the convenience of plastic bags; they can ask for one anytime that they want to buy something and get rid of it after they finish. For the reusable bag, students have to carry it with them all the time if they want to have a bag for items they buy in the Market, the Falcon’s Nest or a normal grocery store.
“The bag is easily put into a backpack. When there is nothing in the bag, it folds down flat, and students can carry it in their backpacks,” Hennessy said.
Changing to reusable bags has eliminated plastic bags from a spot on campus that passed out many single-use bags during its existence.
“The Market used to be a big source of plastic bags, but they don’t have them anymore. Students will have to have the reusable bags, or they won’t have a bag. The Falcon’s Nest in the Union still has plastic bags upon request of the students. Not every single venue on campus has done away with them,” Hennessy said.
Despite the easy accessibility to the plastic bags in the Falcon’s Nest, several students around campus have used the reusable bags when they want to buy food.
“I see many people using their bags, and we have been able to hand out a majority of the bags,” Olive Bartholomew, president of the EAG, said.
By using reusable bags, Bartholomew believes methods of living more sustainably are being spread.
“It will reduce single-use plastic bag consumption on campus and spread a message of sustainability to all,” Bartholomew said.
From an environmental perspective, single-use plastic bags are a large waste of resources. According to the Office of Campus Sustainability, the life span of one plastic bag is 12 minutes,
The office believes a reusable bag is the easiest way to help the environment.
“The bag holds more, it’s stronger than a single-use bag, it’s free to any students that want one, it’s washable. You can use it all the year with no problem. I don’t see any disadvantages for this bag,” Hennessy said.
Many people in the EAG hope to change people’s habits of using single-use plastic bags by raising awareness.
“We hope to change the culture of using single-use plastics out of convenience to raising awareness about the harm that these products create,” Bartholomew said.
For the EAG, Campus Sustainability and climate activists, making the use of reusable bags a common practice is the first step of changing the culture surrounding plastic bag use and raising awareness about sustainable practices.
For people looking to obtain a reusable bag, they are available many places on campus, including the Market dining locations and the Campus Sustainability office.
