Reducing my plastic use in 2011

photo from NOAA Hawaii

I don't really know how it started. When did I start to care? I don't know. The move to living in Boulder clearly made a difference - and I do know that one morning I was on the treadmill, watching Oprah and that shot of garbage in the ocean came on. Then the animal trapped in plastic bags and with plastic rings around their bodies. I had never seen that footage, and I thought, I can do a little something. I won't make a major change in my life. I'm too lazy, but I can make a tiny switch. So I decided to start carrying my own grocery bags. It wasn't easy at first; I kept forgetting. Then it became more of a habit. Especially at Whole Foods, where I saw everyone else walking in with their reusable bags. But if I made a run to a different grocery chain, I would forget again. It took a while to really do it every time. Now I have a trunk full of reusable bags, quite a selection I must say, and I pretty much use them whenever I shop. My next step is to move to reusable produce bags. And I am making my own reusable tote bag - out of repurposed plastic bags! Did you know that plastic bags can exist on this earth for 1,000 years before decomposing?