Something Doable

It's hard to read anything hopeful about the fate of the environment.  And all the things we can do seem like a drop in the bucket.  Here's another drop.  Stop using plastic bags.  When I go to the grocery story with my motley collection of bags, I notice that not many shoppers do this.  I do sometimes think "What's the use?" but I know I don't want to bring home anymore bags.  I wonder, if more of us were carrying our own bags, would more people follow suit.?

t's not that this will make a huge difference, but it's so easy--so doable.  The loveyourearth website gives these "Nasty Plastic Facts."

According to the Wall Street Journal, the U. S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually.  (Estimated cost to retailers: $4 billion)...

Plastic bags are made of polyethylene which is a petroleum product.  Production contributes to air pollution and energy consumption.

It takes 1000 years for polyethylene bags to break down.

The amount of petroleum used to make 1 plastic bag would drive a car about 11 meters....

As I said, it's a drop, but they use petroleum and they don't biodegrade.  They're nasty.