Making the switch from plastic bags

Over the weekend I bought a canvas bag at the local food co-op. It’s for grocery-shopping so I can stop carrying home those awful plastic bags. I bought it on impulse when I noticed it was only $.99. I recycle grocery bags but still knew it was irresponsible of me to use them at all. If I’m buying only a couple of items, I refuse a bag altogether but they seem to accumulate rather quickly, regardless.

I already have some canvas bags to use for shopping but am ashamed to admit they’ve never made it into my car so I’ll have them at the store. I’m a terrible procrastinator, even with important tasks.  What got me motivated was carrying yet another bag of plastic bags to the recycling pile in my garage. Plus, the tag on the new reusable bag had some persuasive statistics on it.

From the tag on my 1 Bag at a Time bag:

• Fourteen plastic bags contain enough petroleum to drive a car one mile.
• 380 billion plastic bags or wraps are thrown away in America each year.
• Making a paper bag emits 70 percent more global warming gasses than making a plastic bag.
• Zero paper bags biodegrade in landfills due to a lack of oxygen.
• Cities spend up to 17 cents per bag in disposal costs, wasting millions of tax dollars.

San Francisco city supervisors banned plastic grocery bags last year. Shouldn’t more cities be jumping on this bandwagon? It seems like common sense to me.