The History of Plastic Bags

In the 1970’s plastic bags became a popular and convenient method of carrying groceries home, they quickly superseding paper bags. The method used to create plastic bags has changed considerably over the years.

Plastic bags are made from polyethylene which is constructed from a long chain of ethylene monomers. In 1977 polyethylene was first used to make shopping bags, although it took 5 years for the concept to fully take hold.

Plastic quickly became popular in the manufacturing industry, companies starting to replace conventional materials such as glass, metal and stone with plastic. This was the beginning of a packaging materials war, with plastic bags at the centre. 

We are all aware and concerned about the environment; it’s for this reason that people prefer to use plastic bags that are environmentally friendly, these bags are either recyclable or biodegradable.  Biodegradable bags are constructed in such a manner that they decompose naturally in sunlight, oxygen and moisture. As landfills are becoming more problematic to the environment the use of biodegradable material is a step in the right direction. The use of recycled plastic bags is also a positive step as these are eco friendly when recycled in the correct manner.

At The Printed Bag Shop we pride ourselves on being environmentally friendly.  We ensure we only use reusable, recyclable or biodegradable materials.

Lee Anne Lewis

Date Written: Sat, Nov 7th 2009

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