Newsletter

Three ways to make the world a better place this week:

1) Stop forgetting your reusable grocery bags

2) Take your dang grocery cart back to the grocery cart thing

3) Apply for a social impact job

Read Time:

3 min 24 sec

Here's what we got on tap for you today:

• Meme of the Week
• Yet Another Reason to Love Plastic Bag Bans
• New Job Opportunities
• Win of the Week: Greece Runs Exclusively on Renewable Energy
• Bummer of the Week: A California City is Almost Out of Water

Meme of the Week:

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Article of the Week:

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Yet Another Reason to Love Plastic Bag Bans

You know that awesome feeling when you remember to take your reusable bags to the grocery store and you feel like a freaking super hero for the planet? Well if you’re carrying a jute bag, it turns out you’re also doing your part to rescue the jute industry in India.

A bit of backstory: India is the largest producer of jute, that natural coarse material that becomes burlap. The last few decades haven’t been kind to jute makers due to the rise of cheaper, synthetic materials.

However, the tide is turning, thanks in part to plastic bag bans across the world. Eco-conscious consumers love that jute is natural, durable, and biodegradable, unlike plastic bags that take literally 1,000 years to break down.

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In the past five years, India has tripled the amount of reusable jute bags they export. One major jute bag buyer: Trader Joe’s. The grocery store chain, AKA the happy place of all suburban millennial moms, knows that going all natural is in.

*note: that does NOT mean that you have to stop wearing deodorant and fertilize your plants with your menstrual blood, unless that’s your thing…

So next time you head to Trader Joe’s for some cauliflower gnocchi and $5 organic wine, you can feel great about packing it all up in your reusable jute grocery bag.

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