Giving up the disposable plastic bag.

[Image via Treehugger.com.]
Bring your reusable bags. It's usually one of the first things said by someone who plans on being "green."

These days, it's not hard to convince people that this ubiquitous item, once portrayed as an ethereal spirit in American Beauty, is something we should learn to live without. 

I bought my first reusable bag about a year ago. It was one of those 50-cent flimsy ones from the grocery store, and I was proud to carry my milk and bread in something I didn't plan on throwing away.

But for a while, it was also the last time I declined plastic. It's not that I didn't understand the environmental consequences of plastic--I did! Did I want the US to stop using 12 million barrels of oil annually to make plastic bags? For bags to stop getting tangled in trees, clogged in storm drains, and blown into the ocean? For this material, which takes 1,000 years to biodegrade, to stop being ingested by animals? For it to stop releasing toxic chemicals once it does break down? Yes, yes, yes, YES! 

But I just couldn't remember to bring my damn bags with me. My heart was in the right place, but my habits weren't. I'd acquired six reusable bags by the time I'd read, "Our Oceans Are Turning Into Plastic...Are We?" But that article struck a deep chord, and shortly afterwards I pledged to reduce my own plastic consumption.

One day, as I peered at the heap of plastic bags I'd been hoarding under my kitchen sink, I started thinking about those reusable bags shoved in various corners of my apartment. 

It's not that taking a few reusable bags with me is a burden, per se--they're not heavy, they don't have to be bulky, or flimsy, or expensive, or ugly, even. You can buy compact ones to stick in your purse or durable hemp ones that last a long time. Or, if you need instant gratification and don't want to wait for it to come in the mail, you can get one cheaply at your local grocery store, Target, CVS, wherever. And it's not like we're incapable of remembering to bring things with us when we go places--how many times have you forgotten your purse or wallet or keys in the past month? I've never forgotten to bring my bookbag to class, or my running bag to the gym. It's merely a habit you have to acquire. 

Sure, some people argue you can use your reuse your plastic bag for other things--and believe me, I used to be the queen of finding random uses for them:  They carried my groceries, clothes and chinese take-out home. Then, they lined my bathroom trash can and held my dirty clothes when I went on trips. My boyfriend used them to carry his lunch, my neighbor for picking up dog poop. They kept clothes I planned on donating and old owner's manuals for random appliances, including some I didn't even own anymore. This ubiquitous thing that came "free" with my groceries was repurposed as The Ultimate Holder for all my stuff.

To reiterate a similar question asked in Plastic Oceans: is the destruction of our environment worth a plastic bag that you may or may not use again? Is using a canvas bag in place of a plastic one really so inconvenient?

I've started trying really hard to make my reusable bags a habit. They now sit neatly folded atop my fridge, which is conveniently located next to the door. (Before I cleared off my fridge, I'd thought about hammering a nail into the wall and hanging them.) I also have a nicer-looking one from Trader Joe's that I take when going to the mall. 

I've also taken steps to lessen my "need" for this product that everyone seemed to get along fine without before the late 70s. I bought mesh bags to put my produce in at the grocery store (because what good is putting more needless plastic inside your cloth bag?). For his birthday, my boyfriend received a cloth lunch bag made from recycled cotton so that he'd stop using vegetable bags. I empty out my bathroom plastic trash bag into the big one in the hall instead of throwing it away. I have another canvas bag for dirty clothes on trips, which I wash with my clothes and hang to dry when I get home. The donation pile now goes in a box, and when I do get around to sorting my owner's manuals, they'll probably go in my file cabinet. 

I'm not plastic bag-free yet, as I still use and buy large garbage bags. I would empty and reuse them as I do with the small bag in the bathroom, but my apartment dumpster is one of those huge receptacles that sit open at the top. Even if I could manage to find a way to empty my trash without bringing a ladder (I currently stand back and swing my bag over right now), I wouldn't feel right about the possibility of my trash blowing into the street. (And for those of you with a dog, I don't know what to tell you.)

But, I don't pretend to be perfect or expect to find an ideal non-plastic bag solution for everything. The key here is to reduce my needless plastic consumption and to think critically about what I *do* use.

Also, one more thing. An article titled Reusable Grocery Bags May Cause Food Poisoning appeared yesterday in a Canadian publication. They reported on a study funded by the Environment and Plastics Industry Council that found higher levels of bacteria in cloth bags. 

So, it is probably a good idea to occasionally wash your reusable bags (and hang-dry them if they're flimsy like mine), and to not put unwrapped meat/gym clothes/poopy diapers in the ones you bring to the grocery store. Also, refrain from vomiting in them. After you've finished laughing about this desperate attempt to scare the public away from reusable bags, make common sense sanitary measures seem like a big deal, and paint environmentalists as evil beings intent on making the public sick (at least in the article's comments), carry on. I'd bet you're more likely to die of food poisoning from prepackaged food than from your cloth bag.

Need more inspiration for eliminating needless plastic from your life? Look at these blogs:
Fake Plastic Fish
Life Less Plastic
No Impact Man
Tiny Choices
Crunchy Chicken

Here are a few sites that sell reusable bags and other plastic-free (or at least safe plastic) containers:
Reusable Bags
Life Without Plastic
Ecobags
DepotEco

And, if you have your own tips or tricks on plastic reduction, send them my way!