Pick n Pay has just released an all-new shopping bag made up of vegetable matter which can be thrown into your composting patch instead of the landfills
Pick n Pay introduced South Africa’s first ever compostable shopping bags at the V&A Waterfront store, Cape Town, on Tuesday. The significance of the day was that it was also International Plastic Bag Free Day. Fear not, the bags are not exclusively available at the flagship store, there will be a nationwide roll-out soon.
These bags are made up of vegetable matter and will take up to 6 months to decompose whereas the plastic variety is estimated to take up to 500 years.
Pick n Pay’s director for transformation Suzanne Ackerman-Berman has confirmed that the new bags will be just as sturdy as their plastic counterparts and can be reused if cared for properly.
“The important difference is that these trial bags are also home compostable,” Ackerman-Berman said.
“They are designed to collect organic waste, such as your kitchen scraps, and will compost with the organic waste in a home compost environment.”
This is really great because how convenient is it to have a bag on the counter as you peel potatoes and carrots? Then you just tie a knot in it and toss it in your composting heap. These bags are still being trialled so the announcement for their nationwide release is a highly anticipated one.
It is exciting to know that retailers like Pick n Pay, SPAR and Woolworths are hearing their customers concerns and addressing the plastic problem which starts in their stores.
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