Tuesday, February 12, 2008

it's time to be green!





Let's talk about plastic bags!

according to an article i found on National Geograhic, http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/09/0902_030902_plasticbags.html.


The "paper or plastic" conundrum that vexed earnest shoppers throughout the 1980s and 90s is largely moot today. Most grocery store baggers don't bother to ask anymore. They drop the bananas in one plastic bag as they reach for another to hold the six-pack of soda. The pasta sauce and noodles will get one too, as will the dish soap. Plastic bags are so cheap to produce, sturdy, plentiful, easy to carry and store that they have captured at least 80 percent of the grocery and convenience store market since they were introduced a quarter century ago. As a result, the totes are everywhere. They sit balled up and stuffed into the one that hangs from the pantry door. They line bathroom trash bins. They clutter landfills. They flap from trees. They float in the breeze. They clog roadside drains. They drift on the high seas. They fill sea turtle bellies.

So are you still using plastic bags or have you moved onto reusable totes?

I keep a bunch of those reusable bags in the back of my car. I have a bunch and they all fit in a bigger bag that i use to hold them. So when i go grocery shopping, i just grab them and in i go. I do my own bagging since the clerks really annoy me with the 2 items per plastic bag they use. If i am just running into a store for one for two ideas, i just refuse a bag and throw them into my purse. it is wastesful. i don't need another bag - nobody does! if i find myself in a situation where i've forgotten my resuable bags (my husbands likes to take them out of the car and then i don't know they are gone.....) i will then take those plastic bags back to the grocery store and put them in the special bin they have set up for recycling plastic bags. i'm always amazed at how concerned people are when i say i don't want a bag. Big retailers, like JCPenney, told me that they HAD to give me a bag. i was not allowed to put their item with receipt in the bag i already had. next time that happens, i will ask for the manager to complain. other times, a clerk will bag my item anyway and then when i say i don't want the bag, they crumple it up and throw it away! Oh, and my favorite, if i am using a plastic bag, i ask them to fill it up as much as possible and then they double bag it! arrrrrggggg! alot of these clerks tend to be younger, so i think it's a bit of ignorance on their part of what impact these bags have on the enviroment.

I'd like bloggers, etsy artists and shoppers to start uniting in a committment to stop using plastic bags! You've seen the "buy handmade" logo for etsy, i'm going to be making a button about plastic bags that we can put on our blogs. This is something i've been big on for awhile, but then really started thinking about it a few days ago when i ran into this blog where the owner is making darling little resuable bags. (see her post here: http://rachaelrabbit.blogspot.com/2008/01/are-you-green-bunny.html) so i contacted her and asked if i could post about her bag and encourage you to purchase one and become a green bunny. stick it in your purse and start using it!(they can be found here on her etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=8823242.

keep an eye out for my "SAY NO TO PLASTIC BAGS" button for you to put on your blog and
pass around.
kEcIa

6 comments:

  1. Thank you SO much for mentioning Rachael Rabbit - please let me know when your SAY NO TO PLASTIC BAGS button becomes available - I would love to put that on my website.

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  2. Green is good!

    What a great post, Kecia. I am actively trying to use reusable bags when I do my shopping these days. The supermarket is okay with it, but the gal at Target yesterday looked at me like I had three heads when I said I had my own bags.

    I've also made an effort to use biodegrable bags when picking up after the dogs. Yea, they cost a bit more, but I'm hopeful they'll breakdown in a landfill until the plastic bags what I used to use.

    I'm hoping to find more study reusable totes for my shopping needs. I'd like something a bit larger to use when I go to Nordstrom.

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  3. Great Post today. I am all for using reuseable bags (totes). I have plenty of them scattered everywhere. In my house, car, even at work for that unexpected shopping at lunch time. I like the home made ones for every day use. I do see people giving me strange looks when I pull out my reusable tote when I am in line at stores. They just don't seem to get it.

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  4. i agree Melissa, i also get those funny looks. the good thing is my 14 year old is always w/ me grocery shopping and i am setting an example with him by using those totes. i do some much recycling at our house and chastise his friends that throw soda cans in the trash. i always start off with "hey, save plantet earth" then, "who did this"? or "don't you recycle at home" (they don't - sad.....)

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  5. I definitely agree! I will post your button when it is available.
    Karla

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  6. I've been saying no to plastic bags for a while now. Who needs them when all the grocery stores around me sell the totes, and give you money back for every one you use. I also have my lovely Ikea bags, that hold tons of stuff! I want a bunny tote - very cute!

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