STEP #13
Bring Your Own Bag and Containers
Who would have thought a simple bag made of natural fabric would become one ofthe most potent symbols of our drive for energy independence? Blame Salon.com writer Katherine Mieszkowski if you hate plastic bags, like we do. After reading her investigative report at www.salon.com describing what happens to plastic bags once we toss them in the trash or, worse, into the environment, we almost gagged; every day America alone uses 4,000 barrels of oil to make plastic bags—and most of the time we use them once and discard them in the landfills. If4,000 barrels of oil doesn’t sound like a lot, figure Australian, Asian, and European contributions to this wasteful disgraceful act of industrial hubris—and we say that’s a lot of oil down the drain.
Or the mouths of marine animals. Although the number of marine animals killed is in contention, we know that having this stuff floating out on the ocean can’t be good for our global environment.
Now nobody can tell the world what to do, but cutting down on all this plastic bag overkill might be a good start since there is a patch of global garbage including plastic bags about the size of Texas floating out there off the California coastline.
The Chinese banned plastic bags in 2008 just in time for the Olympics, citing the fact that most are used only once and they are polluting rivers, streams, lakes, and the ocean. The Irish banned plastic bags and began taxing their use and now everybody there shops with reusable bags that are stylish, durable, and hip. Most nations haven’t banned their use or attached a real cost estimate to their use.
Here’s the downside of plastic bags.
“Every time we use a new plastic bag they go and get more petroleum from the Middle East and bring it over in tankers,” said Stephanie Barger, executive director of Earth Resource Foundation in Costa Mesa, California, “We are extracting and destroying the earth to use a plastic bag for 10 minutes.”
About 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are used worldwide every year, according to Vincent Cobb, founder of www.reuseablebags.com.
Most just end up in landfills where they break down in about a thousand years or they end up in rivers and oceans where they choke animals. Although some scientists are squabbling like sea birds over the actual numbers, there is a lot of forensic evidence showing that animals such as whales and sea turtles do choke on plastic bags and other plastic trash floating in their world.
But plastic bags are just a symptom of total waste. We love to over-package everything in life from ourselves to our presents. But the way we over-package now with plastic is garish and crude, as in crude oil. We put plastic bags inside plastic bags inside paper bags. We don’t think about how we are so needlessly tightening the noose around the neck of the nation by these acts. It isn’t that anybody who doesn’t bring their own bag isn’t patriotic, or is it? How can you not act when you know what you know?
The funny thing is, about 9 out of 10 people who shop at large supermarkets don’t act. Our supermarket scouts say people are still using plastic like there is no such thing as an oil addiction. It’s so foolish to use plastic bags.
A cool looking durable bag made with sustainable fabric holds twice as much, has much stronger handles, and never breaks. It’s so cool. When you do something as simple and profound as bringing your own bag to the supermarket, you are taking a big step for America. You are walking as a great Green Patriot.
And, yes, YOU can easily be the most distinguished person in your local supermarket. It’s more important than ever for those of us who know better to set the example for the rest of the world and carry our sustainable fabric reusable bags proudly when we go to the supermarket!
HOW TO GET EM
Most supermarkets sell reusable bags for $2 or $3. The markets can’t afford to give them away, although someday a tax scheme on plastic in many cities will change that. Also go to www.reusablebags.com. It’s a great resource.
If you want a freebie, try attending a public or corporate event, as most give away reusable bags to show how green the city fathers and mothers are these days. Heck, one of our staff members got three from the fantastic City of El Segundo, California, which under the leadership of Mayor Kelly McDowell is truly one of the world’s green cities.
Of course, you might want some bags to reuse for household chores, but most of the bags we get are used once. So, remember, it’s time to step up and proudly
BYOB!
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