Couple donates cotton bags to help reduce plastic use

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — For many shoppers, putting produce into plastic film bags at the grocery store is a given, but plastic film is not acceptable for most curbside recycling programs and isn’t very durable.

In an effort to lessen the use of plastic bags, Beverly Zisla Welber and her husband, Michael Welber, have donated mesh organic cotton produce bags to vendors at the Bloomington Winter Farmers’ Market and to the Rose Hill Farm Stop.

The Bloomington couple have donated 100 bags to the winter farmers’ market twice, on Dec. 4 and Jan. 22. On the first Saturday, the bags were almost all gone within the first hour of the market, according to Lisa Goch, market manager.

“It’s a wonderful donation,” said Rosie Sill, one of the vendors at the winter market. “It’s a great way to educate folks about different bagging options.”

Sill, who placed the bags at her booth for customers to take, said for many of the market vendors, plastic bags have “quite a lifespan,” being reused as long as they hold up. But having a cloth bag is a better option.

“It’s such a simple, easy act to do to make an impact,” she said.

About 100 of the reusable bags were dropped off at Rose Hill Farm Stop, at 902 W. Kirkwood Ave., according to Lillian Greenberg, operations manager. The bags were hung near the only plastic bags the store offers, mainly for delicate greens that can’t be placed in the store’s paper bags.

“They flew off the shelves in about a week,” Greenburg said, adding many of the farm stop’s customers bring their own bags.

Everyone chose the reusable cotton bags over the plastic bags, Greenburg said.

“It was exciting and an exciting donation to have, especially as a new business,” she said.

“We just wanted to do something to encourage people,” Zisla Welber said.

Since the pandemic, Zisla Welber said she has noticed a steep rise in the use of plastic, with an abundance of plastic bags being used by companies selling food and looking for convenient ways to distribute food safely.

“Michael and I felt like we were drowning in plastic from every source. We decided to try to help out in a small way by providing reusable produce bags to the farmers at the market, and to the market, too,” she said.

The couple hopes customers will reuse the bags on future trips to the markets or other places where they purchase produce.

Indiana state legislators passed a bill in 2016 that prohibited city and county officials from taxing or restricting the use of disposable plastic bags in groceries and other businesses. The bill was signed into law by then-Gov. Mike Pence in March 2016. Bloomington was one of the communities in the process of considering a ban on the use of plastic bags when the bill was passed.

The organic cotton bags were ordered from Life without Plastic at www.lifewithoutplastic.com.

Michael Welber said he and his wife are considering offering more bags in March but will wait and see. He said he believes the pandemic has compounded the problem of people using plastic bags, especially since some stores didn’t allow customers to use their own reusable bags during the early days of the pandemic.

As far as Indiana’s bill that won’t allow communities to restrict use of plastic bags, Welber’s response: “The law doesn’t say you can’t use reusable bags.”