Have I gone off the deep end? Am I going to join PETA and eat salads composed of grass and wildflowers from our backyard or sew my own clothing from tree bark or bathe just once a week in goat milk to conserve water?? No...not that extreme - but am I going to try to do a few things to lessen the depth of my footprint on the planet.
Lately I've been considering how many plastic bags we go through in a week. I *loathe* going grocery shopping (with the boys, it's a nightmare that causes me to break out in hives just thinking about it ) so I'll usually go to the grocery store once almost every day. Sound backwards? It's not....
Here's my logic: I'd rather run in the store while I'm out and grab enough stuff for dinner for that night, some milk and a box of cereal, then spend an hour and a half going through every aisle getting EVERYTHING that we need.
So, on average, I'm bringing home 2-5 grocery bags full of stuff EVERY DAY. That's a lot of plastic bags. And what happens to them?? You use them once to bring home your stuff, and then you throw them away.
Where they're carted off to the dump...to sit.
----- For about 1,000 years! ----
Seems wasteful considering that you only use them for the 8 minute ride from the store to your refrigerator.
Americans consume and throw away about 395 billion plastic bags per year. What a waste.
So....what can you do about it?
Go to the local craft store (Hobby Lobby, Michaels, etc) and buy some canvas tote bags. They cost about $3-$10 each depending on the size. And if you're feeling arty-farty you can have your kids paint on them, or hot-glue some grass on it, or iron-on your Metallica patch that you've been saving since 1987.
I found some mesh tote bags at Target on sale for $5 each and they are just as big (if not bigger) than a regular size grocery bag. You can also buy bags online at various eco-friendly online stores at like ecobags, or reusablebags.com, or even on ebay.
What a great and easy way to teach your kids about recycling and being a good steward of the earth! And you'll feel good too....I promise. It's a small thing, but it really does make a difference.
For other simple ways that you can cut down on waste and make a difference globally, check out Stopglobalwarming.com. You'll find a whole list of things (big and small) that you can do today or in less than 5 minutes to make a change for the better.
I promise...we won't call you a tree-hugger, or think you're weird. Quite the opposite...you'll be pretty hip seeing as how "going green" is so freak'n IN right now. You'll be oh-so-cool.
Like me.
And really, who doesn't want to be like me????
:)
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11 comments:
At my house, we recycle the plastic bags. We save them until we have a decent quantity and then return them to the store. Some stores have little drop off boxes @ the front of the store or atleast Wal-mart does.
I went "blue" a while back--Kroger was selling cloth grocery bags for around $2-3/each. Bought a couple every time I went in until I had enough--they have a squared-off bottom like a grocery sack, so they don't squish bread, etc.
They seemed really small and I kept thinking, I'll have to buy like 20 of those for all our groceries BUT, they actually hold ALOT; I just make sure that the grocery bagger fills them up--nothing worse than carrying in twenty bags with one or two items.
One other GREEN action is to not put your produce into produce bags, just put them in the front of your grocery cart or go buy a little produce bag...or if you have a Target w/those cool grocery carts that have the little egg/greeting card/produce baskets in them, use IT! In the long run, it saves us all money also b/c the stores include the price of grocery bags, produce bags, bad fruit (stores figure in a 40% loss on produce therefore they mark it up considerably), FREE cookies-ha! and even the little green tabs (that my kids use for rings :)) into the price of all their inventory.
I think if they started charging a surcharge for bags, we would all think twice before just tossing them. We wouldn't like it, heck, I would probably complain but...
I have some more ideas but...I should email. We should start a game...TagBlog...tag your it, tell something GREEN you do. Just a thought from a CRAZY LOON. School's out--ha,ha!
Sorry, I just realized I never explained going "blue".
Krogers color is blue, therefore they have blue bags.
Good blog, BTW!
TWL-good idea. I forgot that stores have those in front of them. I know Publix does too.
Amy - I was reading online about grocery stores in NY, California, and other more eco-friendly, hip & trendy cities ARE starting to charge you extra for bags. I think it would be a great idea if all grocery stores started doing it....think of the cutback on waste if an entire city had to bring their own bags to the store with them!
lets comb our yards for some pine nuts, wild berries, and hum KUMBIA...Lets also wear hemp undergraments that we harvested from our gardens and wear coats from recycled dog hair(http://www.mdnpd.com/pd/yarn.htm)...isn't Nugent from Michign too?
vote for GORE!
Driving to the store everyday is wasting a ton of gas and you are probably spending three times as much going everyday. Go once a week, save the gas and go when hubby gets iff work...late at night at Publix is SO relaxing!
I don't purposely drive out for the sole purpose of going to the store. I drive right by the store whenever I go anywhere, so it's right on the way home to swing in and grab what i need.
And i don't literally go EVERY day...just almost every day. :)
Additional perspective;
Have you ever wondered why we’re petroleum based?
Look closely;
Wal-Mart
Exxon Mobile
General Motors
Chevron
ConocoPhillips
General Electric
Ford Motor Co
Citigroup
Bank of America
AIG
Our entire economy is based on buying, financing, and moving with on or for petroleum, or hydrocarbons. Look at the World’s richest companies;
WALMART
EXXONMOBILE
Royal Dutch Shell
British Petroleum
GM
CHEVRON
Daimler CHRYSLER
Toyota
FORD
CONOCO PHILLIPS
60% of the world’s richest companies are here in U.S. Also of note; 80% of the WORLD’S economy is Petroleum based….
So all Petroleum products; fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals, plastics, and a host of other products are ubiquitous and probably more necessity than convenience, are here to stay until global markets evolve….but why should they?
See the pumps lately? The old refineries are down story…We are enslaved by OIL.
SINCE WE THE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN MARGINALIZED BY GOVERNMENT, and there are no candidates of the people or at least mine!!(http://projects.washingtonpost.com/2008-presidential-candidates/finance/2007/q1/) or my grooming standard (http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2007/04/19/news/local/doc4626f3bd6f2f2920813459.txt)
The only alternative is not to hope for legislation, but behavior modification; ours. Look at GM and Ford now…They cannot give away SUV’s…Why? Because the “PEOPLE” have spoken. The people have all the power, but are unable, unwilling, or too lazy to use it. The entire global warming debate, wrapped in politics and buttressed with rhetoric and science, has to be addressed, for a variety of reasons. There are, as of 2007, 6.7 billion of God’s creatures on his earth….They create heat too. They have needs, both real and perceived. Its not only use of petroleum, but the geography inhbitated by and consumed bu “us”.
Coupled with petroleum hydrocarbon combustible by products(see; pollution) deforestation affects the amount of water in the soil and groundwater and the moisture in the atmosphere. Forests support considerable biodiversity, providing valuable habitat for wildlife; moreover, forests foster medicinal conservation and the recharge of aquifers. With forest biotopes being a major, irreplaceable source of new drugs (like taxol), deforestation can destroy genetic variations (such as crop resistance) irretrievably.
Shrinking forest cover lessens the landscape's capacity to intercept, retain and transport precipitation. Instead of trapping precipitation, which then percolates to groundwater systems, deforested areas become sources of surface water runoff, which moves much faster than subsurface flows. That quicker transport of surface water can translate into flash flooding and more localized floods than would occur with the forest cover. Deforestation also contributes to decreased evapotranspiration, which lessens atmospheric moisture which in some cases affects precipitation levels downwind from the deforested area, as water is not recycled to downwind forests, but is lost in runoff and returns directly to the oceans. According to one preliminary study, in deforested north and northwest China, the average annual precipitation decreased by one third between the 1950s and the 1980s.
Long-term gains can be obtained by managing forest lands sustainable to maintain both forest cover and provide a biodegradable renewable resource. Forests are also important stores of organic carbon, and forests can extract carbon dioxide and pollutants from the air, thus contributing to biosphere stability and probably relevant to the greenhouse effect. Forests are also valued for their aesthetic beauty and as a cultural resource and tourist attraction. And who has exploited these earth nourishing forests? MAN. I’ve heard and/or read before that the area of the state of Delaware is cleared everyday.
The blame game levies charges against industry, but in the supply/demand economy and growth of the populace, who actually holds more responsibility? All of us!
Deuteronomy 8:17-18
The wealth or "abundance" of our lives is a gift, not just a given. That is, no more than with life itself do we have this as something we can earn or deserve. It is not entitlement but blessing in which others are meant to share.
Luke 12:13-21, 48
The parable of the rich fool is clear: life's abundance does not consist in possessions. Those who "store up treasures for themselves" (v. 21) become victims of anxiety, always wondering if they have enough. Real security is found and the true richness of life experienced—not in guarding what we have but in giving what we can. "Abundance" is not a private possession but a shared experience.
We, the people, not the government, not the corporations, not the banks hold the power to create change by shaping the free market. Innovativeness, entrepreneurial spirit, and erstwhile efforts hold the solutions to at the very least abate the current state of global environmental affairs.
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters." God makes the first day and night; the "firmament" separating "the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament;" dry land and seas and plants and trees which grew fruit with seed; the sun, moon and stars in the firmament give light upon the earth; creates air-breathing sea creatures and birds; and on the sixth day, makes "the beasts of the earth according to their kinds."
The good Lord provided a bountiful planet to inhabit in our earthly vessels. The entire world's economy is tied to petroleum…We are all responsible to it and for its condition. We all need to be better stewards.
So cheers Tammi for doing your part.
APOLOGIZE FOR THE PONTIFICATION.
DOC
WoW! Long comment.
All I can say is, "Got Cankles?"
Pontificate away.
Cankles? No, not yet. But I'm not one for cankles. Huge Giant Arse is more along my lines.
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