World Paper Bag Day is celebrated on July 12 every year to promote the utilisation of paper bags and reduce the use of plastic bags. Since plastic bags are extremely harmful to the environment, people need to be educated about the hazards and dangers associated with them. This day is dedicated to spreading awareness of the ill effects of plastic and how detrimental they are to our environment. Paper bags can easily be used to replace one-time-use plastic bags which are non-biodegradable or, in other words, take hundreds of years to decompose in landfills.
World Paper Bag Day 2022: Theme
The theme for Paper Bag Day this year is, “If you’re ‘fantastic’, Do Something ‘dramatic’ To Cut The ‘Plastic’, Use ‘Paper Bags’.”
World Paper Bag Day 2022: Significance
The significance of Paper Bag Day is to discourage the use of plastic bags and generate consciousness about how harmful they are to the environment as it takes thousands of years to decompose. However, paper bags are biodegradable and an important cornerstone to preserving our planet.
World Paper Bag Day: History
Francis Wolle, an American inventor, created the first paper bag machine in 1852. Later in 1871, Margaret E. Knight introduced another machine to generate flat-bottom paper bags and rose to fame as “The mother of the grocery bag”. Better paper bag designs and manufacturing processes were developed over time by inventors Charles Stilwell and Walter Deubener in the years 1883 and 1912 respectively.
