REPOST

My sister recently decided that once a week she was going to post a blog on her myspace page about being more environmentally conscious. I decided to repost them so anyone who wants the information can have it. So here is her first one and I hope someone finds the information useful. :D

Everyone can make a difference and everyone should try

The subject title for this blog is a quote by John F. Kennedy. I thought about this quote and then decided to try this project, and I hope you all will like it. If anyone knows me really well, or spends time with me, they will know that I'm a little bit of a greenie. I have spent hours reading books on the subject of green living, and more hours looking up information and great sites on the net. I have decided to write a blog every week or two to share some of the information I have found. A blog is a greast place to do this (I have decided) because you don't have to read it if you don't want to. That way I don't feel like I'm shoving something down anyones throat. If someone is interested, this info will be there for them with just a click of the mouse. My hope is that most of you will read these and be able to get something from them. I also hope if you like the info you will pass it along. You can even copy and paste them to your site if you want. Some of these will be long, some just a few lines. From now one I will always put "green gal" in the subject so you will know that this is a green blog instead of a personal one. If any of you do like the information, or if you use it... let me know. It would be great to know I won't be putting my heart, time and information out there for nothing.



For my first green living blog I want to share some thoughts on our need to use reusable shopping bags. First let me give you some facts on the subject.

1. It takes over 1000 years for a plastic bag to biodegrade.

2. Across the globe we us between 500 billion and 1 trillion plastic bags each year! (More then 380 billion in the US alone, thats over 1 million per MINUTE!)

3. It takes over 14 million trees to make the paper shopping bags we use each year.

4. The process to make all of these bags, both plastic and paper,puts tons of pollution in both our water and air.

5. Plastic shopping bags cost retailers over 4 billion dollars a year in the US alone.

6. Hundreds of thousands of marine mammals and turtles die every year from eating plastic bags.

7. It takes over 12 MILLION BARRELS OF OIL to make the shopping bags used for ONE YEAR in the US alone.

8. 14 plastic grocery bags contain enough petroleum to fuel the average car for a mile.

So, now that we have that information, what can we do?? We can purchase our own reusable bags and bring them with us when we shop. To make that easier for us all to do I will tell you about the best options I have found from all of my research and from hundreds of customer reviews. Here are some of the best bags at the best deals that I have found.

1. Chico bags @ chicobag.com. If you want one bag to carry with you at all times, this could be a great option for you. They come in lots of colors, and they fold into themselves. Once folded they are small and could fit into a purse, or they also have a hook that you can hook on a beltloop. They are very cheap to buy, but they hold a lot!

2. For the greenie willing to pay a little more for style B Happy Bags @ bhappybags.com might be right for you! They are over $20 a piece, but they come in lots of cute fabrics. The fabric is upholstery weight cotton, and stands up well, much like a paper bag would. Also they are made in Phoenix, Arizona so the carbon footprint to ship would be much less then from something that needed to be shipped from over seas.

3. The bags I like to use are Envirosax from envirosax.com. You can buy one for only $8.50 or you can buy a set of 5 with there own pouch for under $38 bucks. They are super lightwieght and fold to be really small. The five pack pouch fits in the pocket on the side door of my car (no more forgetting my bag). Plus one of these bags holds what 2 plastic sacks would. Each one holds up to 44 lbs!! They come in really cute prints too! And, for you greenie guys out there (who maybe wouldn't enjoy a flower print) they make them in solid colors to including black and grey. They also have an organic line made with organic linen or hemp if you are willing to pay more.

If you would like to check out lots of different reusable bag options a great site to use is reusablebags.com. They also have lots of options for reusable water bottles and you can check out there line of reusable lunch products. (It will give you a head start on my next green blog how to green-up your brown bag.) If you want to help spread the word they also have a line of buttons and stickers that say "Plastic Bags Blow-Bring Your Own Bags".

I really hope we will all use this information to change our own habits, but also to encourage us to spread the word and get others out there to change their ways as well. We always want to know what we can do as just one person to make a difference, I believe this could be a great start. Getting America off the plastic addiction would make a huge difference to this beautiful planet!!