Bag Monster

I was reading through the current Mother Earth News that I had received when I came across the title "Don't Feed the Bag Monster". I have to admit the title intrigued me. It discussed about a demonstration in San Francisco where about 70 people marched through the streets wearing between 500-700 bags (avg number of bags used by an American in a years time) on their bodies. They were doing this to draw awareness to the use of plastic bags. Here are some statistics on plastic bag use here in the US.
1) 100 billion bags are created each year.
2) The average American uses 45,000 bags in a lifetime.
3) At least 12 million barrels of oil are used each year just to make plastic bags.
4) Plastic bags can take up to 1000 years to break down..
5) Less than 5% of plastic bags are recycled.
6) There is now 6 times more plastic debris in the North Pacific Ocean than Zooplankton.
7) Packaging now accounts for 1/3 of all household waste.
8) Over 380 billion plastic bags, sacks and wraps are consumed in America each year, costing retailers an estimated $4 billion. This cost is passed on to the consumer through higher product prices. .

Getting rid of plastic bags is an easy solution. Buy or get canvas bags. I have found several of mine at garage sales and Goodwill. Carry the bags in your car for those last minute stops. If you forget your bags and only have a few items than ask that the object not be placed in a bag, If you do end up with plastic bags, recycle them. Most major store and grocery chains have recycling bins outside of their stores.

Remember DON'T FEED THE BAG MONSTER!!!