Breaking the Plastic Bag Habit

I was at target patiently waiting in line while the woman ahead of me finished checking out. She was buying a magazine - just one. As the cashier scanned the magazine he asked "Would you like a bag?" I was so proud to hear a cashier offering the alternative of no bag at all. She replied "yes." I was shocked. It took every ounce of self control to resist lecturing her on the evils of the plastic bag. Instead I stared at my shoes waiting for this nightmare to be over. Then, as is she were an animal in the wild trying to exert her dominance over the cashier, she said, "Double bag it." At this point I nearly had to be restrained. I could do nothing but stare at her in pure astonishment until she left the store.

Nothing bugs me quite like plastic bags. It's estimated that Americans send over 100billion plastic bags to landfill each year, yet I still see very little being done about it. Bags go from the grocery store to the home. Once everything is put away its straight to the trash. This gives the average plastic bag a life of one hour. Sure there are people who use their plastic bags for their bathroom trash, but are they using the 10-20 bags they brought home that week?

Unfortunately the story on paper bags is not much better. They can be recycled, but did you know that it takes more water and energy to produce a paper bag than it does to produce a plastic bag?

Reusable bags offer structure and durability that disposable bags do not. Many stores offer bags at about $1 each, but most of these bags are still petroleum based like plastic bags. Still they will last much longer than the cheap bags you get at checkout and they will fit about twice as many items. I prefer canvas bags, but they are a bit more expensive. They are more natural looking unlike many of the blinding alternatives available in stores. Also, they are machine washable if you happen to spill anything. Click on the link below to check out some of the canvas tote bags I designed.