As I waited in line for the bagger to pack my groceries, I noticed he was placing just two items in each bag. With only 10 items, I walked out of the store with five bags. I knew something was wrong.
I realized those five bags were a total waste, so I considered what to do about it. I could write to the manager and tell him I was upset about the wastefulness of his employees. I could tell the baggers on my next shopping trip about proper bagging techniques.
Or I could do something proactive that I could repeat at all stores: Bring my own cloth bags!
Let's consider plastic-bag production. Plastic shopping bags are made from polyethylene, which comes from petroleum. Petroleum is a fossil fuel.
We are having environmental issues with fossil fuels and the fact that they produce carbon. The fewer bags used, the fewer bags produced, the less petroleum used to make bags and the less carbon released in the atmosphere.
Americans use about 380 billion plastic bags a year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. It takes about 1.6 billion gallons of petroleum to produce that many bags, according to FastCompany.com. Then, if they aren't recycled, think of the landfill space they take up. Plus, polyethylene takes about 1,000 years to break down.
If you don't do it for the petroleum, do it for the sea turtles. Every year, thousands of sea turtles, whales and other marine animals die from eating plastic bags. Sea turtles eat the plastic bags because they think the bags are jellyfish, a source of food.
The bag goes into its stomach, but the animal doesn't digest it. The sea turtle doesn't think it is hungry because it has the plastic bag telling it that it's full, so it dies of starvation.
The simple solution is to use cloth bags when shopping. Just keep them in your car, so whenever you go to the store, you'll have them.
Cloth bags hold more than plastic bags, and they are sturdier. As an added bonus, when walking to your apartment or dorm, you would have just two cloth bags instead of 10 plastic bags - that's just one for each shoulder.
Tell your friends, design your own bag, and show your own style. You can buy cloth bags from craft stores, grocery stores (Publix sells a "green bag," which is very nice) or from an environmental organization you want to support.
Another tip: If you go on an impromptu shopping trip and only buy one or two items, don't use a bag. Carry them without one.
So my challenge to you is to reduce the number of plastic bags you use to zero. There is no need for us to use plastic bags when there are sea turtles and fossil fuels to think about.
Raneve West-Singh is a graduate student studying environmental education.
