I have this problem, and I often feel guilty about it. Some of you may be able to empathize. I understand that plastic grocery bags create a ton of unnecessary waste and that their current widespread use is dangerous to the environment. Despite this, 8 times out of 10 I walk out the door without remembering to grab my reusable grocery bags. The one time I do remember to put the bags in the car I forget to take them out of the car and into the store! (Sometimes I think there is something diagnosably wrong with me.)
Thankfully, there is a wonderful site designed to help us all with this problem. ConservingNow.com is the brainchild of mother-daughter team Meghan and Gayle. ConservingNow.com was designed to motivate and help us all kick the plastic bag habit. Sometimes we can rationalize to ourselves that using and tossing plastic bags is no big deal but ConservingNow.com has some statistics that may make you rethink that.
- On average we only recycle one plastic bag in every 200 we use.
- Each year, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide. That comes out to over one million per minute. Billions end up as litter each year.
- Windblown plastic bags are so prevalent in Africa that a cottage industry has sprung up harvesting bags and using them to weave hats, and even bags. According to the BBC, one group alone harvests 30,000 per month.
- According to David Barnes, a marine scientist with the British Antarctic Survey, plastic bags have gone “from being rare in the late 80s and early 90s to being almost everywhere.” Plastic bags have been found floating north of the Arctic Circle near Spitzbergen, and as far south as the Falkland Islands. Source: British Antarctic Survey
- Plastic bags are among the 12 items of debris most often found in coastal cleanups, according to the nonprofit Center for Marine Conservation.
ConservingNow.com is dedicated to helping us change these statistics. At ConservingNow.com you can learn steps and tips to reduce our own plastic bag consumption, you can find resources for teaching your family. There are even tips and resources to help teachers and educators implement a conservation lessons into their curricula. People like you and me can donate money to help provide a school classroom kit to help promote greater environmental awareness and conservation.
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| Click the icon to get your free window reminder! |
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| This is the Envirosax bag I got. So stylish! |
Well, back to my dilemma of always forgetting my reusable bags. ConservingNow.com is so dedicate to helping us kick our disposable habit that they are providing a free “Bring Your Own Bag” window cling to anyone who wants one. The idea is that you place this on your car window and this will, and everytime you go to the grocery store you’ll see this and be reminded to grab your reusable bags.
ConservingNow.com also has a wonderful selection of reusable bags available for purchase. They sent me an Envirosax bag for review and I LOVE it! It was much larger than I expected. In fact, when I went to the grocery store yesterday the cashier fit all my groceries into that one bag (probably would have been 3 plastic grocery bags). That was pretty cool. The Envirosax bag is awesome because when rolled up it is small enough to keep in your purse! Because of their size the Envirosax bag is very versatile. I planning on getting more and using one for our beach/swim bag this summer. ConservingNow also has their own line of of reusable cotton tote bags. Check it out!
Visit ConservingNow.com to learn tips on how you and your family can conserve more and while you are there shop for some reusable bags!
Disclosure: I was provided with an Envirosax bag at no charge in order to provide and accurate and honest review of the product. The opinions expressed are entirely my own.
About Amy @ Oh So Savvy Mom
