Earth Day

I refuse to turn this blog in to a research paper, but when accumulating information for my speech on reusable bags last night, I was greatly troubled by a number of statistics. The United States alone uses 100 billion plastic bags and somewhere near 10 billion paper bags per year. Only .6% of plastic bags are recycled. Somewhere between 10-15% of paper bags are, but it requires 98% more energy to recycle one pound of paper bags than one pound of plastic.

Sorry for the statistics, but that's a lot of resources, trees and energy being wasted.

As it is Earth Day, I wanted to gather a few of my favorite resources that are easy to use and greatly better the planet.

Reusablebags.com offers all kinds of reusable bags. Useful. Colorful. Not. Cheap. Notsocheap. Big. Medium. Small. It's all there.

Envirosax are my favorite, regardless of the price tag.

Bath and Body Works has awesome reusable bags that fold up easily, very similar to the more expensive Envirosax. I found these two weeks ago and love them.

Also, I know I have a number of bags around the house that would work.

Many people say reusable bags are a nuisance, and this is a valid argument. However, there are many things you can do to remember your reusable bags.

1. Put the bags back into your car immediately after you unload your goods.
2. Hang the bags near the door.
3. Many companies such as bagnesia offer key chains and door hangers that will remind you.
4. Make your own reminders. Hang a ribbon from your rear-view window. Put a sign on the door leading to the garage.


AND:
To sign up for curbside recycling in Indianapolis, call 327-4MAC.