I am beginning a new series of blogs that will give you small tips on how to be green and fabulous at the same time :)
Tip #1: Ask your cashier at each store you visit to put as much stuff in one bag as possible.
Have you ever noticed how cashiers at Wal-Mart love to put only one or two things in every bag? Then, you end up having to load fifty bags into your car and then unload them when you get home. This green tip will make your life a bit easier and Mother Nature a lot happier.
I do this every time I go grocery shopping. I know that I'm not making a huge difference in the environment, but I figure if I go grocery shopping every 1.5 weeks I probably use about ten bags each time. So that's about 347 grocery bags each year instead of the 1,200 bags that statistics say each U.S. resident uses each year.
If you're still not convinced, here are a few facts from Envirosax about the impact that plastic bags have on the environment:
1) 380 billion plastic bags are used in the U.S. every year.
2) It takes an estimated 12 billion barrells of oil to make that many bags.
3) Even when they photo-degrade in landfills, the plastic from single-use bags never goes away, and toxic particles can enter the food chain when they are ingested by unsuspecting animals.
Don't forget that many stores now sell reusable bags for really cheap. I must admit that while I have bought two of these bags I always forget to bring them with me to the store. That's something I must work on ;)
And I don't know about other stores, but you can also recycle your used bags at Wal-Mart. There's a box by the shopping carts in the front. It's usually cluttered and blocked by the greeter and all his stuff, but it's there.
Side note: True story--My sister, B, went to our local grocery store and as she was checking out the following conversation took place:
Cashier: I put as much as I could in each bag because I know that's how you like it.
B stares at the girl with a very confused look on her face
Cashier seems puzzled: That is you isn't it?
B: I have four sisters so you might be getting me confused with one of them.
Cashier: Well, the girl looks exactly like you.
B: Come to think of it I know that's my sister Kaley. She's always trying to be "green" (fingers making the quotation marks as she rolls her eyes).
Peace!
