New Year's Resolution
We all make them, regardless of the arbitrariness of the notion. What will we change in the new year? As there are only a few days left of 2010, I’m going to share one of my resolutions with you, one that I hope you also will consider making.
That goal is to eliminate my own use of bottled water and grocery bags.
This is a lofty goal, to be sure, one that I probably won’t meet entirely, but I hope to do my best to maintain. It’s a two-fold goal. First is the obvious: reduce my own consumption of plastics. Recycling is only one part of that triangle– reducing and reusing is just as important.
Second is to change my own mindset, and focus more on personal responsibility rather than to on-the-go convenience — thinking about where I’ll be and what I’ll need before I leave my apartment. There are so many products that are making this easier– reusable shopping bags and water bottles that roll up to fit easily in your purse or bag so you can carry them all the time, without being bulky or heavy. And a $10 roll-up bottle and some tap water is a lot cheaper than dozens of bottles of Dasani, isn’t it? (Ever notice that “evian” is “naive” spelled backwards?)
I know I won’t be perfect– I’ll leave them at home, I’m sure, and need to ask for a bag or buy a bottle of water. But I hope that I’ll manage to be more conscientious about my usage — and I hope that you consider the same in 2011.
I would love to see the plastic bag tax where I live. What a great idea. I watched Garbage Moguls on National Geographic last weekend about a young group that take garbage and make recycled products. It was really an inspiration. The episode I watched had them trying to come up with ideas for a product to make out of plastic chip bags. They ended up making plastic garbage cans with them and it showed them in a positive meeting with Home Depot. They said they even saved money making them with recycled products.
I went to reusable grocery bags a few years ago – I’m probably in my fourth year. I would never go back. I have them in both cars, and am just in the habit of bringing them in with me. It’s a little harder to remember on non-grocery store errands, or times when you didn’t think you were going to buy anything.
Bottled water was harder to kick, but I really felt guilted into it at church! So I did it. I try to carry a water bottle with me to work, or just use the drinking fountain.
CindyS- have you tried brita filters? I’ve had pretty good luck with those– D.C. water isn’t exactly pure and clear, but our brita pitcher does the job.
kathy- i would NEVER remember my bags, except that i have one that rolls up and is smaller than my wallet. i just always have it in my purse. when i know i’m doing a bigger grocery shopping excursion, i try to bring an extra one or two, but usually the one bag I keep in my purse is enough.
I’ve bought reuseable bags…….several times. I’d say maybe one out of twenty times I remember to bring them in the store with me. I get sooo mad at myself!! I need to find a way to attach them to my credit card. I never forget my credit card!!
5 cents up here also for the plastic but we do need them every once in a while for the cats. Other than that we remember the re-usable totes.
When it comes to water – I’m in trouble there because we are on a different water source than the rest of the city and I can taste the difference to the point where I can’t drink it. So yes, I drink bottled water but recycling is a huge part of our lives up here so hopefully my dent won’t be too hard.
CindyS
Lee, your statement that the bag tax failed in Seattle had me wondering, so I googled and the bag tax failed to PASS in Seattle. I’d bet the 20 cents per bag tax was too high for people to find it palatable. Our tax is five cents.
I live outside city limits so we don’t have any recycling. I don’t buy bottle water, but I do drink coke zero in plastic bottles. I would love to recyle them. I use old plastic bags as trash liners. However, I could do a lot better. Thanks for the reminder, and I love your resolution, and I will do better with the plastic bags.
We use both the plastic and paper bags from stores as trash can liners. We used to buy trash can bags, but realized that we were getting them for free (or nearly for free) when we bought groceries each week. We also separate recycleables, yard waste, and other garbage into three pickup cans where we live.
So a plastic bag of recycleable plastic containers for us is the way to go. When the clerk asks, “Paper or plastic?” it really doesn’t matter to me. Whichever he gives me will be reused and thrown out with the trash. (Oh, yes, and no water bottles for us. We’re old dogs, raised on tap water although we do have a filter on our refrigerator which we use.)
The bag tax failed here in Seattle. I do use plastic bags (need to for garbage going down the chute) and paper bags (for my recyclables that go in the recycle dumpster).
I have a Brita pitcher and filter at home so only use a few plastic water bottles — to carry when out and about.
I totally agree, Sandy. I think the Bag Tax has done wonders, and is a great model for the idea of providing incentives to alter behavior. All stores still have bags available, but it just makes sense to bring along your reusable bags.
Tee–I do commend you for making the extra trip to recycle your plastic bags. Unfortunately, grocery bags can only be recycled into things like plastic particle board, and those themselves can’t be recycled. Of course, it’s better than nothing. I know some people argue that recycling can use more energy than the value of the item, but I am technologically optimistic that we’ll eventually transition to a renewable energy source. So the “paper or plastic” question for me is almost always paper — it may use more energy to make, but the plastic bag will be here forever.
Tee, they passed a law where Jane and I live that each for each plastic bag you have to pay a 5 cent bag tax. And it really seems to have worked. The five cents makes people really think twice about it. And, as I said, now at the grocery store, seeing someone buy bags is rare. People bitched about the law, but when it first went into effect our biggest grocery store chain gave people reusable bags for the first few weeks in January of 2010 so you had no excuse not to use them. It’s a model I’d like to see other areas replicate. It’s made a big difference here.
I was under the impression that many well-known stores were to discontinue the use of plastic bags and encourage reusable or paper bags. We’ve been asking for paper for some time now because we do use them as garbage bag liners and they work well that way for us.
As far as the plastic ones go, we’d rather not have them, but we do reuse them because we have a dog (won’t say anymore on that subject). LOL. The ones that accumulate over the top are tromped to the city recycling center. Kroger also has a recycling container for them in their stores. I’m always telling the packers to put as much as you can into them if that’s the only bag that’s offered. I detest this one-item-per-bag philosophy that some of them have these days.
We are super recyclers here in the house and take practically everything and anything that will be accepted to the city recycling center.
I have a few purchased reusable bags that I forget to take to the stores. I congratulate Sandy that she’s remembering to take hers along. That’s the only way we’re going to make progress in this war against stuff that doesn’t disintegrate for years and years in our landfills.
I was thinking the other day about the D.C. bag law that went into effect almost exactly a year ago and how it’s changed people’s habits here. The law was really a success. I carry with me at all times a folded reusable bag that I can use for CVS or a quick grocery store stop. When I’m food shopping, I always pack my reusable totes. In this past year, I bet I’ve bought bags (five cents according to the D.C. law) fewer than 10 times and that is a HUGE improvement for me. Now at the grocery store I notice now when people buy bags because it is so rare. I’m still consuming bottled war far too often, but you’ve given me some thought to work on it.