Bags, bags, and more bags

The Issue
There are many things that you cannot avoid in life, and one of those things happens to be the plastic bag. Plastic bags are so prevalent in our lives that everything we buy contains a form of it whether we like it or not. The obvious ones are of course plastic bags from supermarkets or retail stores; the less obvious include cereal bag liners, dry cleaning wrap, bread bags, packaging wrap (e.g., Amazon.com’s inflated air packs), magazine wraps for the rainy season, toilet paper wrapping, etc. Trust me, these things show up more than you may think. For the past several months, I have collected every type of plastic bag possible (even though I shop with my own reusable bags), and my end result yielded me a giant bag of bags the size of a stability ball:

The Solution
Did you know that only 12% of plastics bags were recycled in 2007? Ouch. Where do the rest go? Landfills, oceans, sewage, you name it.

Luckily, many major grocery stores have recycling bins for plastic bags. Even Walgreen’s and Trader Joe’s have bins. Plastic bags with the symbol #2 or #4 can typically be recycled:

The best part of plastic bag recycling is that it takes very little effort. We all make periodic trips to the grocery store, so why not take some bags with you on your next trip? It is now habitual for me to think twice about what I throw away and evaluate what be prevented from going in the trash bin. The last thing that I need to see is a tree decorated with plastic bag ornaments due to people tossing them on the street! I know it is virtually impossible to avoid using plastic, but the least we could do is to properly handle the plastic we purchase.

To learn more about plastic bags and/or what to do with them, go to Earth 911. This site will also answer your questions like “Can I recycle XYZ?” and “What do I do with ABC?”