Everyones Got Brand New Bag
This planet is choking on plastic bags- almost literally. From where I sit at my desk, I can see one of those damnable shopping bags snagged in one of the upper limbs of a tree, fluttering in the wind.
Rampant plastic bag use is one of the worst symptoms of the world’s unconscious obsession with consumption. It seems like no one stops to think, “Wait- do I actually need a bag?” anymore. I’ve seen people at the grocery store ask for a bag for ONE item, or even worse, ONE ITEM WITH A HANDLE BUILT IN TO THE PACKAGING! (For more startling statistics about plastic bag consumption, visit reusablebags.com).
And yes, I’ve heard all the excuses and justifications. You may use them for bathroom trash bags, or to pick up your pets, um, leavings. However, many people have a cupboard of about 500 of these petroleum-based beasts lurking somewhere in our homes, meaning the supply far exceeds the demand. And then what do you do after you’ve reused it ONCE? It still ends up in the landfill where it will spend hundreds, if not thousands of years breaking down into tiny, toxic bits and leaching into our water supply. If we’re lucky, maybe it’ll just make a beeline for the water and end up in the Great Garbage Patch where it will swirl and float and suffocate things for quite some time.
The answer? I’m not even going to entertain the paper vs. plastic argument. The answer is BYOB. Backpack, canvas tote, hemp, nylon collapsible, designer decorated- no matter what it looks like- bring your own bag! Better yet- choose not to be a consumer at all- recycle something and make your own bag.
I stumbled upon a great UK site yesterday, morsbags.com. Their tag line is great- “Sociable. Guerilla. Bagging.” And not only does the site offer facts, figures and materials about the virtues of reusable bags, it has easy to follow instructions for making your own out of recycled materials, a forum, a ticker of how many plastic bags have been saved by making Morsbags and more.
So bust out a needle and thread, some old sheets, blast some James Brown- and let’s make a brand new bag.
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