
Thought I'd share another GREEN LIVING success story with the hopes of inspiring someone to make a similar change. I've weaned myself from the plastic tit. It's been almost a year of shunning plastic bags. And let me tell you, except for not knowing what to put the cat shit in, I have no regrets.
It's a very small change but it feels incredibly good. I also find it easier in the long run and the bags I use now are just plain better.
Yep, I drank the kool-aid and now I'm preaching the gospel. Line up brothers and sisters and take a sip, it'll only hurt for a second. Click Continue reading below for the whys and hows of switching to reusable bags and for a peek at the too cool bags and amazing online store, ReusableBags.com, that I'm in love with.
Oh...and check out my plastic bag ticker in the sidebar. That's the kind of stuff that flips me out!
WHY REUSABLE BAGS?
Let's be conservative and say you go shopping once a week and get 10 bags per trip. 52 weeks a year, that's 520 bags. Yikes! And maybe it's more for you. And of course, there are those weeks when you make extra stops for forgotten items and weeks when you buy way more than usual for a holiday or house guests. Add to that the bags you get from the pharmacy, the bookstore, toy stores, clothing stores, pet stores, the mall, whatever. You can see how the number can creep up into the 600-700 per year per household range pretty quickly. You have to admit, that's sick.
Last year I discovered an online store and information center called ReusableBags.com.
It's a truly awesome resource with tons of information about
the global evil of plastic bags. Here are just a few examples of the kind of
things I found out there:
- According to the EPA, over 380 billion plastic bags, sacks and wraps are consumed in the U.S. each year.
- Each year, an estimated 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide. That comes out to over one million per minute. Billions end up as litter each year.
- Plastic bags don’t biodegrade, they photodegrade—breaking down into smaller and smaller toxic bits contaminating soil and waterways and entering the food web when animals accidentally ingest.
- In 2001, Ireland consumed 1.2 billion plastic bags, or 316 per person. An extremely successful plastic bag consumption tax, or PlasTax, introduced in 2002 reduced consumption by 90%. Approximately 18,000,000 liters of oil have been saved due to this reduced production. Governments around the world are considering implementing similar measures.
- Each reusable shopping bag you use has the potential to eliminate hundreds, if not thousands, of plastic bags over its lifetime.
I love their mission and their products so much that while writing this post, I contacted them about using info from their site and ended up becoming an affiliate. If you click through to ReusableBags.com from any link on my blog, I get a 10% kick back on your purchase. Yes, I'm peddling stuff, but it's stuff I already use and really believe in. Good for me, good for you, good for the planet.
OKAY, OKAY, I GET IT. WHAT SHOULD I DO?
I've had trouble with the Bring Your Own Bag thing in the past because a) I wasn't aware of what a huge problem it was, and b) I just didn't love the canvas bags and string totes that were available. I don't know what to say, they just didn't turn me on the way a grocery bag should. But, as with sex, if I'm targeted on multiple fronts I can throw down fast. So, when I read all that crap above AND found the bag of my dreams last year, I was raring to go.
I bought these 4 ACME EarthTotes.

I purchased them as a Shopping Set, sold with 4 cotton produce bags and a package of Evert-Fresh produce bags that keep veggies fresh in your fridge way longer. I keep them in my car and use them for my grocery shopping. I LOVE THESE BAGS! They are incredibly strong. I can get 15-20 plastic bags worth of stuff in these 4 bags alone. They also wipe down with a sponge if anything spills so they don't get all stained and funky like the canvas ones do. And they stand up by themselves for easy loading and unloading. They each have an outside pocket for coupons or your cotton produce bags.
I can't tell you how many compliments I've gotten on them from checkers and baggers--and that's just weird.
They now have another version of the EarthTote (in black) that is made from recycled plastic containers, as well as bags made from hemp and cotton, a colorful range of lunch bags for kids & adults,and reusable water bottles.
I also have one of these Ultra Compact ACME Workhorse Bags.

It folds up inside a little attached pouch to about the size of a dinner roll (you can see its folded size in the grocery bag picture). I keep mine in my purse at all times, and I always have one bag for quick trips to the bookstore or pharmacy or even for take-out lunch.
And I have a Reisenthal Market Tote. I it use at the CSA, Farmers Market, as a picnic basket and to collect things to move up and down stairs in my house when I'm picking up.

We gave EarthTote Shopping Sets as business gifts this year. They were a big hit--show folk are crazy for green stuff. I also gave several Workhorse Bags as small Christmas gifts for girlfriends along with those little pin cushions I made out of bottle caps.
Just because they don't float my boat doesn't mean you shouldn't consider canvas bags and string totes. Lots of people love them and you can buy them at most grocery stores for a few bucks each. Even freakin' Target is getting in on the reusable bag game. It's totally becoming part of the Zeitgeist! Also be on the look out for giveaways or cheapies at local environmental events and health food stores.
And if the idea of paying anything at all is what irks you, check out my Cheap &Easy: Homemade Reusable T-Shirt Bags. Talk about getting all 3 of the R's in there.

Using plastic bags is like putting on a hefty sack during a thunderstorm instead of having a decent raincoat or umbrella. Sure, it's clever in a pinch, but you know there will be more storms, so on a long term basis it's kind of a dumb move.
Why in the world would you use 600 (in one year alone) of something cheap, flimsy and detrimental to the environment, when you could use 4 of something high quality and strong, that won't kill sea turtles or end up in your salad.
Because it's free?
But don't you see...it's really not.

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