Grocery Shopping Essay

1157 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Gender differences in shopping

Differences in Grocery Shopping Behavior as a Result of Sex and Quantity Grocery shopping is something that almost every person in a modern society must do to get their food, however, disposable plastic grocery bags are accumulating on landfills and are polluting our oceans. Environmentalists are now encouraging others to lessen their impact on the environment by opting for reusable bags instead of disposable plastic bags while grocery shopping. Grocery and retail stores have gotten involved in this trend by selling their own reusable bags. This trend of shoppers bringing their own reusable bags with them when shopping is far less harmful for our environment, however, it is uncertain whether people are actually acting in such a way without …show more content…

As environmental awareness continues to increase, there has been a strong support of using reusable bags instead of using disposable plastic bags. A study examined whether proscription of plastic bags deters consumer from its use (Sharp, Høj, & Wheeler, 2010). The participants in the study were identified by sex and randomly chosen using the white pages and a commercial telephone interviewing field team. The participants were asked to generalize about their own behavior by rating how many times they would undertake a behavior of interest. It was found that a higher percentage of women said that they had taken their own bags to their last shopping trip than men (Sharp et al., 2010). Additionally, while 60% of the interviewees claimed to take their own bag shopping, 80% of them said that in a typical week they would use some sort of store-supplied plastic bag (Sharp et al., …show more content…

This study expanded on previous research because it analyzed how the sex of a grocery shopper affected shopping behavior. The study also differed from previous research because it was a naturalistic observation as opposed to a survey and it analyzed how the bag type affected the grocery shopping behavior. Consistent with previous research, it was hypothesized that women would use more bags than men. Additionally, it was hypothesized that people with plastic bags would have a higher quantity of bags than people with reusable

Show More
Related

  • Plastic Bags Are Good For You By Katherine Mangu-Ward

    1117 Words  | 3 Pages

    The article Plastic bags are Good for you, by Katherine Mangu-Ward was written to explore the pro’s and con’s of three different types of bags. Which is better between plastic, paper, or reusable bags has always been a debatable question with an opinionated answer. In the article Mangu-Ward characterizes the cause and effect relationships which have lead to the unpopularity of plastic bags in terms of guilt.

    Read More

  • Plastic Bags Essay

    1007 Words  | 3 Pages

    Plastic bags are useful tools to use and have other benefits as well. This is a statement that is up for debate. Many people disagree with the statement that plastic bags are useful. The question is whether or not that is true. American stores offer both plastic and reusable bags, but when customers go through a line and say he or she wants a plastic bag, he or she might get a disgusted look. For most stores plastic bags are now frowned upon. The stores want their customer to use the reusable bags that the store offers them to purchase. Throughout the article Plastic Bags Are good for You, Mangu Ward goes back a forth of weather or not the bags are good. Mangu-Ward explains the cause and effects of which plastic and reusable bags have based

    Read More

  • Plastic Pollution: A Threat to Oceans and Humanity

    952 Words  | 2 Pages

    Every year, an estimated 8 million tons of plastic waste enters our environment, severely polluting oceans, beaches, forests, and even the towns and cities we live in. In the ocean alone, it is believed that 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic pollutes the waters (“Plastic Statistics”, Ocean Crusaders).The majority of plastic pollution can be traced back to single-use items, such as grocery bags, bottles, and plastic packaging. According to United Nations Environment, “At the rate we are dumping items such as plastic bottles, bags and cups after a single use, by 2050 oceans will carry more plastic than fish…” (“UN Declares War on Ocean Plastic”, UN Environment). This pollution is a major problem and endangers not only the environment, but human

    Read More

  • Plastic Vs Plastic Essay

    1001 Words  | 3 Pages

    Most of the necessities humans need are provided in supermarkets, in fact supermarkets have become a necessity for our everyday life. They are now the main source of water, food, clothes and everyday tools. Therefore, the plastic bags demanded and supplied in this industry increase every day. In the past decade, we produced as much plastic as we did in the whole twentieth century (Freinkel, 2011). This exponential increase of a non-biodegradable material has negatively impacted our environment immensely. Plastic production requires our dwindling fossil fuel resources, robs away animal lives, litters our beautiful landscapes and even affects our very own well-being. Hence, if plastic production doesn’t diminish immediately, we will suffer great

    Read More

  • Plastic Bags Dbq

    956 Words  | 2 Pages

    The debate of whether plastic bags are more beneficial to the environment and our community continues to find little resolution. Although there’s an abundant opposition to the use of plastic bags, the benefits of using plastic bags should be acknowledge. Manufacturing and the usage of plastic bags produce less pollution, require little energy, and is efficient for recycling; therefore, our community should avoid limiting the use of plastic bags because plastic is a valuable material.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Plastic Bags

    1499 Words  | 3 Pages

    Using plastic bags are second nature to people in this day and age. Warner acknowledges, “Much to the dismay of the environmentally conscious citizens worldwide, the ubiquity of the free plastic carryout bag has bred nonchalant consumers who take this modern convenience for granted” (646). Although some people are conscious about the environment, people strive more for convenience and do not think about the impacts using bags have not only on the environment, but on themselves as well. If something is bad for the environment, it will alternatively be bad for humans as well. When plastic bags are exposed to the sun from being littered all around, the ultraviolet rays cause the substances of plastic bags to weaken. After the substances weaken, the substances become invisible to the naked eye. The substances that are no longer able to be seen are toxic to humans (Warner 649). As a result of plastic bags being littered around, animals consume plastic bags. This is negatively affects humans because animals are often consumed. When humans consume animals like, fish, there can be plastic in the fish’s belly, which then transfers to the humans and this poses a concern for human’s health. Humans are negatively affected by plastic bags because of the toxic chemicals in plastic bags, as well as, consuming animals with plastic in their

    Read More

  • Food Inc Essay

    1528 Words  | 4 Pages

    America is a capitalist society. It should come to a surprise when we live like this daily. We work for profit. We’ll buy either for pleasure or to sell later for profit. It should come to no surprise that our food is made the same way because we are what we eat. We are capitalist that eat a capitalist meal. So we must question our politics. Is our government system to blame for accepting and encouraging monopolies?

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Grocery Shopping

    745 Words  | 2 Pages

    You know I never thought of grocery shopping as being a challenge or a skill until I had a house of my own and a family to care for. Today's grocery shopping trips in the Lambert household include my three children ages seven, four, and two tagging along. Wanting anything and everything. I use to enjoy grocery shopping and now it takes so much planning, memorization, and legit skill to get in and out within my set budget, and with getting everything on my list. After doing this for about seven to eight years with children I would consider myself a pro at grocery shopping!

    Read More

  • Over-consumption = More Waste

    520 Words  | 2 Pages

    The single most important environmental issue today is over-consumerism, which leads to excess waste. We buy too much. We think we always need new and better stuff. Will we ever be satisfied? There will always be something better or cooler on the market. Because we live in a capitalistic consumer culture, we have absorbed things like: “Get it while the getting’s good,” “Offer ends soon, buy while it lasts,” “For great deals, come on down…Sunday Sunday Sunday!” We, kids from 1 to 92, have become saturated with commercials like: Obey your thirst. How much of our consumption is compulsive buying, merely obeying our momentary thirst? Do we actually need all that we buy? Could we survive efficiently, even happily, without making so many shopping center runs? Once after I made a Target run with mom, I noticed that most of the bulkiness within my plastic bags with red targets symbols on them was made up of the products’ packaging. I then thought about all the bags that were piled on the floor near us…all of the bags piled on the floors of many homes throughout America daily.

    Read More

  • Benefits Of Plastic Bags

    839 Words  | 2 Pages

    On the month of March of 2013, the House Committee of Urban Affairs had proposed the bill HB 2416 that requires for retailers whom use plastic bags when doing check-outs to have the plastic bags be charged a fee or simply to not use any plastic bags. The policy issue of having a ban towards plastic bags is important for many reasons, they are wrecking the environment and costing hundreds and thousands of dollars in the process. According to the Corpus Christi Plastic Bag Ordinance (2012), Corpus Christi’s Solid Waste Department spends $190,000 each year to pick up loose bags, the C.C’s Municipal Marina spends $4,320 in labor for staff to clean up, and the Parks and Recreational Department spent $125,000 to have trash removed from the Gulf Beaches, the lists keeps going giving an outrageous number of amounts spent on cleaning up bags that many citizens do not know about. Not only that, but all over town plastic bags are clogging water drains, contaminating and preventing the water from flowing properly. These problems and costs all add up in the end when many plastic bags are being utilized for items each and every day, whether it be single-bagged or double-bagged, especially when people seem to want a plastic bag when it is unnecessary, they tend to request a bag to just hold one or two items that can be easily be carried by hand.

    Read More

  • Plastic Bags

    816 Words  | 2 Pages

    Millions of plastic bags are given out to consumers by supermarkets and stores to carry their goods in. They are also cheap, light, durable, easy to carry and in many cases, free. The most commonly used shopping bag is made of High Density Polyethylene (HDPE). This type is used in the majority of supermarkets and stores. After these bags are used, they often end up in landfills or as litter, roughly only three percent of plastic bags is actually recycled per year (Planet Ark, 2011). The materials used in making plastic bags make them non-biodegradable. According to the science dictionary, 2011 refers to “these materials cannot be decomposed into environmentally safe waste materials by the action of soil bacteria.” These harmful substances are toxic and take approximately four hundred years to break down, or in this case photo-degrade; which is how plastics made from (HDPE) break down. Since they are not biodegradable, they remain in the environment and are absorbed in soil or water (Indian Centre for Plastics in the Environment, 2010). This essay will discuss the various harmful effects of plastic bags, and demonstrate the risks that these bags impose on humans, animals and the environment. It will also discuss a series of suggested solutions that could help reduce plastic bag usage.

    Read More

  • Advantages And Disadvantages Of Paper And Plastic

    927 Words  | 2 Pages

    Everyone has heard a cashier one time or another mumble, “Paper or plastic?” as he put their groceries in a bag, but do shoppers know the effects of each vessel in which they carry their comestibles? There are many issues and benefits to both paper and plastic. The making and recycling of both paper and plastic bags can harm the environment. One must also look at the costs of making each bag. The convenience of each is also something to look at. Many people jump to conclusion that paper bags are better for the environment without knowing the facts. Since plastic bags are preferred by customers and plastic bags actually do not hurt the environment as much as paper ones do, consumers should feel at ease when choosing plastic.

    Read More

  • Everyone Should Care About The Environment

    1297 Words  | 3 Pages

    While walking through the park last Sunday, I observed a shocking scene. There were two cans: one for recycling and one for trash. The recycling receptacle had only an empty Dr. Pepper can and a few used Ozarka water bottles. On the other hand, the trash can had a plethora of half eaten meals, wrappers, banana peels and disgustingly even bottles, cans, newspapers and plastics that could have been recycled. Because people do not understand or do not care to understand about conserving our resources, many reusable items are being put in landfills when recycling these items could help save the environment. People should know the negative impact of throwing away a water bottle or newspaper, purchasing meat from the grocery store or consuming gasoline has on the environment, and many do not. By informing society about how their decisions affect the environment, we can help save our planet and change our attitude toward the land we live on, the water we drink and the air we breathe” and truly show respect for the stuff that we depend on.

    Read More

  • Essay On Recycling Attitude

    1289 Words  | 3 Pages

    Joung and Park-Poaps (2013) concentrated their research on university students in America; their study of 232 people was based overwhelmingly on young, Caucasian (87.5%), females (91.8%). (Joung and Park-Poaps 2013). Their demographic characteristics could suggest a similarity in upbringing and background, which could in turn mean they have learned similar consumer behaviours as studies have shown young children learn their attitudes and behaviours from their peers and family members (Ward 1974).

    Read More

  • Essay About Food Service

    1558 Words  | 4 Pages

    In America, many are not aware of the inequalities that exist in the Food Service. The food service sector has at least 125,951 companies and approximately 12 million employees with almost 7 million foreigners. This sector includes individually owned restaurants, mid-priced chains, quick service (fast food), hotels, and beverage establishments. Food service plays a major role in institutional establishments like schools, hospitals, prisons and meals on wheels. They cater to the tastes of their particular customers and are often leaders of food innovation. In the food service, we find: bartenders, wait staff, hosts, busboys, chefs, cooks, managers, and dishwashers .The food service workers perform a variety of customer service, food preparation and cleaning tasks, all that which are very important to keep a business running. More concerning , some of the major working conditions that foodservice workers face with daily is no health benefits and significantly low wages. These employees working in the food industry make it possible for millions of people to enjoy food in restaurants but are not being treated or appreciated fairly.

    Read More

More about Grocery Shopping Essay

Open Document