What’s in a bag? This is the question a lot of companies are asking themselves these past few years.

Plastic bag waste is one of the biggest environmental hazards of our time. You know it, companies know it. This is why you’re offered the choice between paper or plastic every time you bag up your groceries at the store. This isn’t quite enough to cut into waste, however, and can just end up shifting the strain from the plastics industry to the paper industry. This is where the gift tote bag comes into play.

Designed to be reused over and over and over again, with an added customizable appeal, there’s no limit to what you and your brand can do. Let’s take a look at some statistics.

At the risk of being redundant, plastic waste is hitting astronomical figures. Scientists have recently estimated that, in just a few decades, there could be more plastic than fish in the ocean! That doesn’t even scratch the surface of all the other kinds of waste regularly dumped into rivers, lakes, and various water supplies. The function of the gift tote bag is more than just novelty on the way out the front door. It’s also an eco-friendly way of shopping, browsing, and living.

The best time to start living more eco-friendly is today. Several studies have been conducted to better understand this phenomenon — more importantly, they’re essential in helping us pin down what can be done about it. Every year sees over one trillion single-use plastic bags being used, equating to a staggering two million per minute. Harmful plastic bags are thought to cost American retailers an average of $5 billion. On the other hand, the average reusable bag has a lifespan equal to that of 700 disposable plastic bags.

This is just the beginning of the gift tote bag and all the good it can do. A single person using reusable bags over the course of their lifetime would remove more than 20,000 plastic bags from the environment. Imagine multiplying that across entire communities! Wholesale bags and totes are starting to become more popular at grocery stores as a result, but it doesn’t have to end there. Your business can hop on this bandwagon today and start looking into custom cotton tote bags wholesale to entice customers to shop smart.

Just like eco-friendly actions, gifts take on many forms. Some people are last-minute shoppers, snagging whatever they can the day before the big event — according to a recent survey, nearly 25% of the population waits until the last minute before purchasing a gift. Others like to plan months in advance. What makes the gift tote bag such a useful addition is it easily fits into all these shopping habits. Tote bags for weddings, simple white canvas tote bags for children to decorate…the sky’s the limit.

All you have to do is reach out and give it a try. Conversations about eco-friendly lifestyles are only becoming more abundant from here. Enticing customers to stick around for the long haul is easier when you design custom gift tote bags with your company’s logo or mascot. Not only does this bring out the green thinker in your consumer base, it goes a long way in reducing marketing costs. At the end of the day, environmental awareness is an affordable option for everyone involved.

What could a red canvas bag do to improve your business and the world at large? It’s time to make the switch and create change today.