Replace Plastic Dry Cleaning Bags with a Reusable Canvas Garment Bag
If you dry clean your clothes, and almost every wardrobe has a few items that require special care, then you have experienced the waste of plastic that occurs at the dry cleaners. Sure, you go to a "green" dry cleaner, but what about the rows and rows of clothes bagged in plastic?
Natural News explains:
Are these plastic bags really necessary and at what point do people decide that sheer convenience is not worth the environmental impact? Many have begun to carry cloth bags with them when they go grocery shopping, but not enough people have looked to their dry cleaner. Not only are those giant strips of plastic a suffocation risk for children and animals, but most people only use their bags to take the clothes home and then toss them out.
One drycleaner estimated that his one dry cleaning store used between 50,000 to 100,000 plastic bags a year. This concerned business owner decided to make a difference. One Earth Day he passed out cloth garment bags to his customers free of charge. Not only would he get free advertising when customers carried the bag, but he was doing something good for the environment. About 300 million pounds of dry cleaning bags are thrown out annually. To his amazement 60% of his customers have been returning with their bags.
If your drycleaner is not offering you reusable garment bags, you can buy your own. It's important to not buy one made of vinyl (some vinyls contain lead); a canvas garment bag offers a more natural alternative. At about $10.00, switching from disposable plastic bags to a reusable garment bag for your dry cleaning needs is affordable.
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Posted by Jennifer Lance at June 30, 2009 10:20 AM
Great article, thanks for the idea. My company offers free reusable dry cleaning bags that start as a hamper, morph into a duffel bag and become a hanging garment bag for the trip home from the drycleaners. We've been saving plastic with drycleaners internationally and urge your readers to take part in our free bag offer. http://www.thegreengarmento.com/BASE/SS/get-free-bags/
Thanks!
Jennie
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