Some time ago a friend forwarded to me a series of photos that showed where plastic shopping bags can end up. Like hundreds of miles out to sea, wrapped around sea animals and bird’s necks, etc. Maybe you’ve seen this. And I think they said that these plastic bags last for a hundred years or some such amazing fact.
I really was appalled. Of course, the point was, use fewer plastic shopping bags! So at first, I asked for paper bags for my groceries. And then I remembered all the cloth bags I have from the various retreats I’ve been at. So I have been taking those to the store and they gladly use them. And actually, they are much stronger and easier to use.
If you don’t have enough of those cloth bags, consider saving the plastic bags from the store and take them to re-use them. Or invest in cloth bags. I know where I shop, they have for sale cloth bags for (I think) $2.00 each. You could add one to your purchases every once in a while to build up your collection if you don’t want to put out lots to begin with.
When I thought of telling you about buying a cloth bag every once in a while, I had to smile. When Larry and I were first married 38 years ago, I bought one silk flower each week to build up into a bouquet because I couldn’t afford (or didn’t want to spend) the money to buy them all at once. After all, back then, if I paid close to $10 for my week’s worth of food, I thought I’d gone food crazy! That’s a little bit of our past that is more than you wanted, but it’s fun to hear, I hope.
Well, I’m not really much of a ecologist, but I’m proud of using cloth bags instead of plastic bags. Won’t you join me? Our small steps combined will prevent that bird from having a plastic bag around its throat.