Paper Bag Day is observed every year on July 12 to reaffirm the much-needed daily use of paper bags over plastic bags. This day is dedicated to spreading awareness of the ill effects of plastic and how detrimental they are to our environment. Paper bags can easily be used to replace one-time-use plastic bags which are non-biodegradable or, in other words, take hundreds of years to decompose in landfills.
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Climate change, environmental issues and scarcity of resources has gradually awakened the population to adopt sustainable lifestyle choices including paper bags. As Paper Bag Day approaches, let us look at the history, significance and theme of the day.
Paper Bag Day: History
Francis Wolle, an American inventor, created the first paper bag machine in 1852. Later in 1871, Margaret E. Knight introduced another machine to generate flat-bottom paper bags and rose to fame as “The mother of the grocery bag”. Better paper bag designs and manufacturing processes were developed over time by inventors Charles Stilwell and Walter Deubener in the years 1883 and 1912 respectively.
Paper Bag Day: Significance
The significance of Paper Bag Day is to discourage the use of plastic bags and generate consciousness about how harmful they are to the environment as it takes thousands of years to decompose. However, paper bags are biodegradable and an important cornerstone to preserving our planet.
Paper Bag Day 2022: Theme
The theme for Paper Bag Day this year is, “If You’re ‘fantastic’, Do Something ‘dramatic’ To Cut The ‘Plastic’, Use ‘Paper Bags’.”
The idea behind this theme is to dissuade people from using plastic bags because of the extent of harm they cause to our nature and encourage them to shift towards eco-friendly products in order to save the environment for future generations.
