bring your own bag

here is something you can do that is really really easy, and makes a huge difference: bring your own bag(s) when you go shopping. some places will even give you a discount for bringing your own bag. i wasn't able to find anything conclusive on what stores definitely do this because it seems to really depend on the store itself and where you live. whole foods gives you a few cents back for every bag you bring. it doesn't hurt to ask, wherever you go. anyway, even if you aren't getting any money for it, you're still doing your part to save the environment. plastic bags are terrible for the environment. well, plastic in general is bad, but we see these bags everywhere; did you ever notice when you're only buying one thing at the store, they'll try to put it in a bag for you? what is the point of that?

did you know we could save 187.5 million pounds of waste if everyone in america used just one less plastic bag? that's a lot of waste! here are some more reasons why plastic bags are so evil:

• they are not renewable.
• the manufacturing process requires drilling and withdrawal of petroleum. it takes 12 million barrels of oil to make 100 billion bags, which is the amount used in the u.s. i thought we were trying to use less oil, not more...
• plastic bags are not biodegradable; instead they do something called photograding, where they break down into smaller pieces and contaminate everything - soil, water, and animals, too, once they make their way into the food chain.
• it takes 1,000 years for a bag to break down.
• and finally, to make you feel even worse for your plastic bag sins, hundreds of thousands of marine animals (sea turtles, sea birds, whales, etc.) die from eating plastic bags that they think are food.

sure, you can recycle your plastic bags...but think back to how much goes into producing them. to really make a difference, we need to stop using them. by now i'm sure you have all seen the cloth bags offered by stores. i've seen them at whole foods, giant, and target, just to name a few. almost everyone makes them now, and they usually cost around $1. if you don't feel like carrying around an advertisement for a store, there are tons of neat cloth bags out there that you can use every time you go to the store. i always keep a bunch of bags in my car so that i always have one. this is my favorite bag that i own:

it's HUGE so i can fit everything in it from one trip. and see that little zipper on the side? the whole bag folds in on itself until it turns into a cute little pouchy thing. i got mine at beyond the wall in new hope. i have another bag that i love, from envirosax. a co-worker of mine got them for everybody as christmas presents, which i thought was really cool.

this is what mine looks like. these can be folded into tiny little rolls that are easy to carry around with you. i really like mine.

these are just a few of the options that are available, if you look, you will find tons of reusable bags. plastic bags may seem like they are more convenient, but is using up our resources and filling up landfills with un-biodegradable junk really that convenient?