it seems we are hearing about being green just about everywhere these days. the news, radio, even your favorite websites and stores have something to say. it can be overwhelming at times, but it is my goal to dig a bit deeper into the issues at hand, to understand better why we all want to go green. i’ll be writing on various ways we can live green with a smidge of creativity of course! first up, the plastic bag.
the facts…
- every year, 500 billion – 1 trillion plastic bags are used across the globe. literally billions end up as waste each and every year.
- plastic bags are killing our marine life. thousands upon thousands of ocean animals die yearly from the accidental consumption of plastic bags.
- plastic bags are not biodegradable. they are actually photo degradable and will continue to break up into tiny and very toxic pieces that contaminate not only the waterways but also our soil.
- paper is not much better. often times i hear people opting for paper bags, when actually paper and plastic have equal amounts of danger. it takes four times as much energy to create a paper bag as it does a plastic one. in fact, a study in 1999 showed that 14 million trees were cut down to supply the amount of paper bags used by Americans in just one year.
what can you do?
- just say no. we typically do our shopping every 2 weeks, but there is the occasional quick trip to grab a gallon of milk or head of lettuce. it is so easy to simply take our few items out in a bag. the next time you are checking out, ask yourself if you really need that bag? chances are, you don’t.
- for every “reusable/green bag” you use, you are potentially eliminating hundreds – thousands of plastic bags over its lifetime. if you think about your average grocery trip, how many bags do you typically come home with? i know we can have up to 15 sometimes. yikes. multiply that by shopping every other week (as we do) and you have quite the collection.
many stores offer a discount when you bring in your own bags, can’t get much better than that! ask your local shops if they do this and if not, petition them to start. the reusable bag world is huge right now. most stores offer their own green bags for as little as $1 a piece. if you are looking for something a tad more stylish you must check out some of the absolutely adorable bags for sale. a few of my fave vendors are:
i know i have been guilty of hoarding those darn plastics – but i am committing to doing my part. it’s going to be all green bags for this family from here on out. coming soon… an easy diy project to make your very own green bags. stay tuned! (credits to mama goes green for the image used in this post!)
how about you – do you use any type of reusable bag? do you have a fave vendor you’d like to pass along?
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