Why you should use reusable containers instead of paper bags and other quick throwaway items?

Plastic bags are damaging to the environment because they are made using crude oil (which is not a renewable resource...meaning the Earth has a limited supply of it). They are also only used once and are not usually readily recycled.

Canvas bags are re-usable and therefore less damaging to the environment because they don't end up in landfill as quickly. If they are made from an eco friendly fabric, like hemp or organic cotton, then they might be even better as these fabrics don't harm the environment with pesticides.

Over 5,000,000,000 (that's 5 BILLION) plastic bags are used annually. Each plastic bag is used for approx 12 minutes, but they can take hundreds of years to decompose. Even when they do decompose they photodegrade rather than biodegrade, which means that they leave small particles behind that pollute the environment and can get into the food chain by being ingested by animals.

During its lifetime 1 canvas bag eliminates the need for approx 1000 plastics bag.