You probably think that the cotton bag is better than the plastic bag. And even wear it like an ecological banner, often wearing your shopping with it. This is not wrong: it would still be necessary to reuse this same canvas bag some 7,000 times to offset the overall impact of its production, or even 20,000 times when it is an organic cotton model (the raw material being in shortage in the face of ever-increasing demand), according to a report from the Danish Ministry of the Environment and Food published in 2018. Admittedly, the tote bag does better than the polyethylene bag, the environmental consequences of which are disastrous for the oceans . However, the use that we make of it today looks more like chique than anything else.
These tote bags that are piled up in a ball and by dozens in the cupboards, after two or three uses, make a mess of the environmental discourse they claim to be.
Often free, they are distributed en masse by brands that use them as advertising windows.
And have the advantage of enjoying an eco-responsible message in subtext (as an alternative to the single-use plastic bag, which is known to be harmful for the environment).
But the problem is there: excessively manufactured, these cotton models no longer keep their promises.
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False friends of ecology
In 2008, a study by the British Environmental Agency (UKEA) compared the ecological impact of different bags (paper, plastic and cotton) and concluded that making a tote bag was not more environmentally friendly. environment than a polyethylene model, due to its production and distribution costs. Without forgetting the social cost. This was recalled by a
New York Times article
published in August 2021, pointing to the voracious consumption of water and pesticides in cotton cultivation, as well as its association with forced labor following revelations about the treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, China, which produces 20% of the world's cotton.
In addition, it is not easy to get rid of these bags properly when you do not know what to do with them.
Indeed, the dyes used for the promotional prints intended to decorate the tote bags do not allow their recycling.
They end up in waste, therefore incinerated.
So what to do?
The recommendations are unanimous: put an end to the accumulation of these tote bags and only use those you already have.
And (very) many times.
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