this news was a sad surprise:  early last week, the Environment and Plastics Industry Council (EPIC) of Canada issued the results of a study they funded, which showed that reusable cloth bags harbour a plethora of apparently hazardous microorganisms … media reports highlighted the potential danger that bacteria-, yeast-, and mould-infected cloth bags pose to people, especially persons with compromised immune systems and unhealthy digestive tracts who are more susecptible to food poisoning …

while the blatant and logical take-home-lesson is to wash your cloth bags regularly, especially when they become soiled, EPIC spokespersons instead claim that cloth bags “pose a public health risk” … the study and media reports also alerted people that faecal matter was detected in some cloth bags … that statement alone is enough to make some hyper-hygenic people paranoid enough to abandon their cloth sacks and return to using and disposing of plastic bags after a single use …

nevertheless, for most people, the intention of study and the media coverage are overtly transparent, if not suspect … the vested interests of the plastics industry are obvious enough to make a lot of us reserve trust in the study results … however, i think EPIC executives are aware of this …

EPIC also knows that for every person who will see through the media report, there is another person who will become fearful enough of potential contamination from cloth bags that plastic bags will once again seem favourable, or at least safer … there is certainly an attempt to establish an underlying unease in people’s minds so that plastic bags won’t become completely obsolete …

in an attempt to appear unbiased and concerned for the public good, EPIC spokespersons also stated that they recognize the importance and necessity of environmental initiatives that reduce the use of plastic bags … however, EPIC “does not want to see these initiatives inadvertently compromise public health and safety” … hmmm … if EPIC is so concerned about public health and safety, perhaps they should think about the toxic industrial effluent spewed from plastic manufacturing plants, and the environmental damage imparted by vagrant plastic bag litter …

ultimately, treating your reusable cloth bags the way you would any other textile you own is the most important thing to remember … dirty cloth bags = dirty laundry … keep them clean and your cloth bags will continue to be safe, eco-friendly, and a wonderful alternative to their not-so-disposable plastic counterparts …