Healing the Planet, its in the Bag

Fun, easy, affordable ways to clean up & green up…

I dont know about anyone else, but I have had this invisible weight on my shoulders ever since I started learning in school about oil spills, global warming, ozone layers, and something called a carbon footprint. Silly myths, right? Well this nagging little green angel on my shoulder keeps tugging on my ear to stop ignoring the “what ifs” and just DO SOMETHING.

But what can I do, really? I dont have tons of money to turn my house into this solar paneled, self-sufficient, recycled water-using, organic mud brick hut with a compost garden. I tend to be an all-or-nothing kind of person, and I figured if I couldnt do all that, why should I do anything? Well, since Ive gotten older and had to spend my own money on rent, gas, food, and other things of normal living, that weight on my shoulders starting getting heavier and heavier. I couldnt figure out why.

That little green angel finally got smart and started turning on the news at night, or sending me to websites on the green efforts around the planet, or turning the channel to Animal Planet and National Geographic. Let me tell you, it worked. The bottom line is, no matter how trite it seems to do one small thing to help the planet, the millions of other people doing their little insignificant acts just multiplied your little insignificant act, and this effort just became significant.

The plan for this new section is to share a user-friendly way to GO GREEN each week without breaking the bank or taking too much time away from our already jam-packed schedules. I am on this personal mission too, so we will be in it together!

Our first green effort is to buy reusable shopping bags…

Personally, I dont like grocery shopping. Its cold in there, the aisles are crowded, and I have to carry all those heavy bags up a flight of stairs at my apartment. I usually get plastic bags, and the only good thing Ive ever done with them is keep them for packed lunches. Still, they get thrown out after two uses. There are entire websites dedicated to how bad this is for the planet. Here is a quote from National Geographic’s news website about plastic grocery bags:

“They sit balled up and stuffed into the one that hangs from the pantry door. They line bathroom trash bins. They carry clothes to the gym. They clutter landfills. They flap from trees. They float in the breeze. They clog roadside drains. They drift on the high seas. They fill sea turtle bellies.”

Where have I been?! How big of a deal is it to keep some reusable bags in my car and walk into the grocery store with them? They take up too much space? Nope. They are selling these bags that fit four in a pouch, which is no bigger than your fist! Put them in your glove box, people. There is no excuse to not utilize this genius approach.

How can I make this even more convenient for you? Order online. Done. I just did it. I have a confirmation number. You dont want to carry something that will clash with your outfit? Well, I came across some pretty nifty designer ones in all colors and sizes, I might even start carrying everything else in them too. You assume they are probably expensive, right? They range from $0.45 each to $35 for a designer set of four. Not bad.

So, even though I dont enjoy grocery shopping, it has now become my first effort in saving the planet, and that makes it much more fun…one reusable bag at a time.

Here are a few websites where you can read more and order your reusable bags: reusablebags.com, reuseit.com, customearthpromos.com, reusablebagsdepot.com

But What Can I Do? Healing the Planet, it’s in the Bag by Courtney Raney