Biodegradable poly bags and other green alternatives to plastic grocery and shopping bags are becoming more and more popular. They offer some nice features if you're trying to grow a greener world.

Biodegradable plastic bags are designed to break down in the environment. They pose less of a hazard to ecosystems and sometimes contribute less, long-lasting, plastic material to landfills.

Technologies have been developed to speed up the decaying process of poly bags. Unlike some substances, polythene bags will decay in the environment, naturally; however, it takes decades for this to happen without a little help from new advances in the green science. The science can be tricky, though. Bags have to survive long storage, be strong enough to hold groceries and other items and yet, still be broken down quickly once exposed to wind, water, light, or another trigger to start the decomposition process. Different technologies hasten decay at different rates. There are other things that create confusion, too. It isn't always easy to determine what type of technology makes a plastic bag biodegradable. The technology involved determines how effectively and how quickly a bag will degrade.

Biodegradable plastics are being used or considered for lots of industries, and the more you support biodegradable technology, the more likely it is that responsible environmental practices will become more widespread within the manufacturing industry. Look for biodegradable plastics for these industries:

• Apparel
• Bakery packaging
• Dry cleaning bags
• Electronics
• Food packaging
• Hardware items
• Housewares
• Medical devices and consumable items
• Promotional mailers

When you consider using biodegradable plastic bags, think of using them for more applications than just toting groceries home from the store.

For more information on biodegradable plastic bags for your business, contact Atlantic Poly.

Green Living