Happy Earth Day! Now Get Off Your Ass and Make a Change!

Happy Earth Day! No really.

OK, now that we're done cheering for the earth... There is a concept that bothers me just as much as water wasting, plastic bottles, and automobile reliance. Can we quit with the damn plastic bags already? That has been one of my peeves increasingly over the past few years and it is my Earth Day resolution. I will do everything in my power to not use these bags even if it disgruntles every last grocery store bagger on the planet. What does this have to do with nutrition, you ask? Well, every trip to the grocery you have the options of using your own reusable bags, the store's paper bags (if they have them), or plastic bags. You have the choice to turn down these bags and also, to inform the places you give business that they should rethink their use of plastic.

Some malnutritious facts:

• 1.2 trillion bags are used per year, averaging roughly 300 per adult on Earth.
• 1 million bags are used per minute and the average span of use for a bag is twelve minutes.
  
• High density polyethylene bags can take over one thousand years to degrade.
  
• The U.S. alone goes through 100 billion plastic bags, requiring 12 million barrels of oil to produce.

The statistics on landfills and wildlife destruction at the will of the plastic bag litter are equally as staggering. And this is what you rely on to carry home your organic produce and precious snacks? Countries around the world are taxing and banning such bags to try to squelch their prevalence. My former home city of San Francisco even passed a law banning them, so hopefully New York City will follow. First the trans fats, now... Really how hard is it to hit up etsy or just plunk down the change to get a reusable bag at the check out?

And if you are still not concerned enough to start using other options to carry your precious Cheetos and 6-pack home from the corner store, watch this little informative video. Seems that plastic is making a place in our bodies....a fact which is more than a little creepy. Malnutrition indeed!

PLASTIC PLANET: THE CURSE OF THE CARRIER BAG



~beth
*I know "malnutritious" is not technically a word, but it should be!