Thanks to my fabulous SlingBox, I watched an insightful documentary this morning called Battle of the Bag. Go to the website for all sorts of information on the war on plastic bags, and then DO SOMETHING. The havoc they cause to the environment is horrifying, and it is so darn easy for us to put a stop to it. I brought several canvas bags back to Albania with me from Canada and I try to remember to keep one folded up inside my handbag at all times, though admitedly I sometimes forget.
If for no other reason, let's vow to stop using them for the animals who ingest them all over the world. How truly inhumane of us to allow that to happen. We must stop it.
When I moved to Albania 3 years ago a little thought kept niggling in my head: "The colour of garbage is Blue". It's evident everywhere. Blue bags fly around in the mountains. They settle on the beaches and burrow there. They decorate piles of garbage in every neighbourhood, waiting to be picked up and taken away. But where is "away"? They take 400 to 1,000 years to disintegrate!
If Mumbai, San Fransisco, Leaf Rapids, and other cities can ban the plastic bag, the least we can do as individuals is stop using them. Stop accepting them. Tell people why. Use paper or cloth.
Ban The Plastic Bag!!
Sunday, February 03, 2008
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6 comments:
Hi Kim!
I have heard from someone named Oprah that paper is just as bad as plastic. She dedicated a whole show to this topic. The amount of trees they "kill" to make the bags and the way in which they manufactue them is problematic. The best solution is to switch to cloth. My mom and I have when we gocery shop!
Yep - did you see the 'colony photo' on my blog... I hate plastic bags. But here they are all recycled - cairo has an 80% recycling process... all done by hand. Even the dreaded plastic bags are made into something else.
90% of the earth's sea turtles have died in the last 15 years, most of them from eating plstic bags, which resemble their staple food, jelly fish.
We personally saw a complete skeleton of a whale on a beach in the Bahamas. It died from eating a plastic bag.
Paper is better.
Cloth is better still.
Wicker or straw is probably the best.
I have this great lightweight but strong cloth shopping bag which stuffs into a tiny (maybe 2 by 3 inches) little stuff sack. It lives in my purse, and comes out whenever I stop to make purchases. I love it!
I tried to find where you could order one online, but I'm not sure what to call it.
o... thanks for the info! Of course there is a whole issue with using paper... let's advocate cloth bags!
lynda... I saw the photo... I often have similar bunches on my own kitchen floor but I'm going to change that!
oreneta... I'm dragging out my beautiful wicker basket from Africa. But I'm not sure how I'm going to get it past the store security guards?
jul...How about posting a photo and maybe we can find it?
I got in the habit of bringing my own bag in Europe, and now I do it in the US, even though I get a lot of "looks" from the baggers. Often times they are like... um, are you going to be able to carry that (I have one of those bigger bags)? I reply, I used to carry two up three flights of stairs in Europe (I have to say 3... 1 just isn't impressive. LOL!). They look shocked, but I hate getting 500 bags for 501 items. Drives me nuts!
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