Monday, September 22, 2008

Resistance to Change

The use of single-use plastic bags has been an accepted norm over the last 30-40 years.

Making the switch to reusable bags has obvious environmental advantages. However, I still get comments from skeptics and those who are just plain old resistant to change.

Some common reasons or excuses to continue using plastic bags are :

1) "I spend so much money at the market, the least I can get is a free bag to carry my stuff home in."

Well, sure, free is always nice, but lets think long term. You can spend $10 and get 10 reusable grocery bags that will last you for every shopping trip for 2-3 years. That's surely achievable.

Besides, do you really think those plastic and paper bags are free? Of course not, you pay for them within each and every price on the items you've just purchased.

2) "I use the plastic bags to take out the trash."

Some may argue that this is reusing the plastic bag. However, the bag and its contents still end up in landfill with no chance to break down any time soon.

Have you ever tried using newspaper to line your trash can? This is really easy to do and not as irksome as you may think. And more good news; if you recycle diligently and compost your food scraps, the stuff that goes into your general trash magically shrinks to almost nothing.

3) "I use plastic bags to pick up my dog poop."

Hmmmm...as Seinfeld once said "and who is the boss of who?" as he held up the imaginery plastic bag full of freshly delivered goodies from man's best friend.

Believe it or not, newspaper can come in handy again. Or you can take a small shovel, scoop it up and bury it.

If those options gross you out too much, you can always get some biodegradable poopy bags, for example, from www.poopbags.com

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