Thursday, January 25, 2007

Bagging It

Tired of the question "Paper or Plastic?" Why not bring your own bags and put a little less stress on the planet? Pick up some reusable bags and keep them in your car, on your bike, or in your backpack. To help me remember, I needed to purchase a few additional ones so I would always find some handy.

There are some great companies offering better options than the typical cloth bags. Green Bag is a company that offers bags made from 100% recycled materials, water resistant, and with the capacity of 3-4 plastic bags. Paper Nor Plastic offers a bag similar in design to a paper bag, but built as rugged as a backpack. Earthwise sells many different types of reusable bags, such as wine totes.

Of course, you can find reusable bags at most stores these days. It is really a simple habit to change. Now when I go shopping, I grab my keys, my wallet, and my bags.

If you need more convincing, here's some great facts from Reusable Bags:
ENERGY TO PRODUCE BAG ORIGINALLY (BTUs)
Plastic Bags: 594 BTUs
Paper Bags: 2511 BTUs

ENERGY TO RECYCLE PACKAGE ONCE (BTUs)
Plastic Bags: 17 BTUs
Paper Bags: 1444 BTUs

In 1999, 14 million trees were cut to produce the 10 billion paper grocery bags used by Americans that year alone. World consumption rate is now estimated at well over 500,000,000,000 (that's 500 billion) plastic bags annually, or almost 1 million per minute.