40 days and 40 ways...to help # 12 Plastics

There is no way you could expect me to blog for 40 days without throwing something beneficial for the planet in here. Especially this cause. It's not for charity. It's for you. And your children. And your children's children.

Get rid of plastics.

Please. I will seriously beg you. They are ruining your health and your planet.

John says that I can come off as a bit of an eco-freak when I start talking about how we are trying to live our lives completely without plastics (it's nearly impossible). So, just so you'll actually read this and not completely disregard my hippie ways, I'm only going to talk about one kind of plastic- plastic bags. They are ruining our lives and you probably don't even know it! Good thing I'm here to tell you :) Here's

why you've GOT to get rid of plastic bags (at least):

This is taken directly from the "Bag it" documentary website (if you haven't seen it, you should, then you'll understand why I often sound psycho about plastics :D ) http://www.bagitmovie.com/

"In the United States alone, an estimated 12 million barrels of oil is used annually to make the plastic bags that Americans consume." (Want to complain about the oil crisis and gas prices?- blame ourselves) "The United States International Trade Commission reported that 102 billion plastic bags were used in the U.S. in 2009. These bags often wind up in waterways or on the landscape, becoming eyesores and degrading water and soil as they break down into toxic bits. Their manufacture, transportation and disposal use large quantities of non-renewable resources and release equally large amounts of global-warming gases. Ecologically, hundreds of thousands of marine animals die every year when they eat plastic bags mistaken for food." (which is, in turn, inside the fish that you eat)

Most people think they are doing good by simply recycling these bags. The problem is, the plastic is

so thin these can't be recycled into anything. So, we ship them off to third world countries where they try to recycle them, but end up just ingesting toxic fumes from the process, or they just end up in a place like this:

And all we have to do is to stop using plastic bags. It's sooo easy!!

These places have banned them or have started charging fees:

San Francisco, LA, Coastal North Carolina, Portland, Austin, Boston, New Haven, Phoenix and Annapolis.

All of China and Rwanda have banned them.

Don't know how? Buy a few reusables and keep them in your car (or the fold ups in your purse). They are everywhere now. Even Wal-Mart sells them for as little as 25 cents! Buy $2.00 worth and never use a plastic bag again!!

It's such a small thing that can make such a big impact and it will barely cost you a thing. Actually, since many stores give you a 5 cent discount when you bring your own bag (places like Target, Wal-Mart, and Whole Foods) you may eventually MAKE money off saving the planet. How does that feel?