Earth Day 2005

PlastiCity
from the Brain Spoon Archives


We use 12 million barrels of oil to manufacture our annual glut of plastic shopping bags. Most plastic bags are made from polyethylene, which is made from crude oil and natural gas. Five of the top six chemicals that the EPA reports generate the most hazardous waste are necessary for plastic production. Plastic bags can take five to ten years to decompose.

Wake up, citizens of PlastiCity! You can do your part, and I don't mean by choosing paper bags either. The answer is so simple: use a sturdy, reusable bag.

I brought a couple of big cloth bags to the grocery store yesterday, and before I could take them out, the cashier was already cramming my stuff into a paper bag inside a plastic bag. "No!" I shouted. "I don't need that!" I turned to get my cloth bags, and turned back to find that he'd removed the paper bag, and had reordered my groceries inside the plastic bag. We've been trained to use plastic bags. It's going to take some readjustment, but we can change for the better! Don't wait for the government to tax or ban plastic bags. Find some big, reusable bags and keep them in your pantry or in the trunk of your Hummer.

For more about recycling and reducing waste, check out these sites:
Consumer Handbook for Reducing Solid Waste
Recycling in Flagstaff