The tote bag crisis: how has a solution become a problem?
(Etx Daily Up) - This external sign of inner engagement for the planet has become, without expecting it, part of the problem.Because the tote Bag pollutes.In addition to the problem of its material, cotton, it struggles to be recycled, and its prints are not necessarily durable.Watch out for this false friend.
How much do you have with you?One, five, ten, fifteen?While the plastic bag tends to disappear (and it's so much the better), we saw the tote bag, this cotton bag, first invade luxury shops, then vintage, then all.It has become the symbol, for brands, of a commitment to the planet...Even if its manufacturing costs the environment.It turns out that the unreserved adoption of cotton bags has in fact created a new problem.
The problem is not new yesterday.Already in 2018, a study carried out by the Danish Ministry of the Environment and Food, had concluded that the bag should be used 20.000 times to compensate for the overall impact of its production.In other words, if you really want to be consistent, you should use your favorite tote every day for...54 years old.Especially since cotton is associated with forced work of Uighurs in Xinjiang, China, which produces 20% of world cotton.
Recycling and dyes
The New York Times puts the subject back on the carpet by publishing an article on August 24 entitled "The Tote Bag crisis".The newspaper raises, in addition to the production problem, the problem of collection and its recycling.Questioned by the daily newspaper, Maxine Bédat, director of the New Standard Institute, a non -profit organization specializing in fashion and sustainable development, said that she had "not yet found municipal compost accepting textiles".And only 15% of the 30 million tonnes of cotton produced each year are actually transported to textile deposits.
And even when they arrive at a composting body, it is difficult to eliminate PVC logos or the dyes used to print them.According to Christopher Stanev, co -founder of Evrnu, a textile recycling company based in Seattle, the printed patterns must be cut into the fabric.Not to mention that it is then necessary to transform the old fabric into new fabric...which consumes almost as much energy as its initial manufacture.
In short a priesthood.
Should we go back to the plastic bag?Nope.Because cotton is not worse than plastic.They are in fact difficult to compare.While the first can use pesticides (if it is not cultivated biologically) and dry up rivers because of its water consumption, plastic bags use fossil fuels emitting greenhouse gases, are notnever biodegradable and obstruct the oceans.
Faced with this observation, some brands turn to other textile solutions.British designer Ally Capellino recently swapped cotton against hemp, while Anya Hindmarch presented a new version of her original tote, this time made from bottles of recycled water.
In the end, the simplest solution may be the most obvious: all products do not need a bag.
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