The 30 Day Plastic Bag Diet
Please do not worry - this is not a fad diet to lose weight! Plastic bags have no nutritious value! This diet is about kicking the habit of excessively using plastic bags. Never eat plastic bags – they can give you hiccups!
Having reusable bags is not enough; you have to use them consistently to make a difference. It is easy to get sidetracked after the initial enthusiasm to shop with reusable bags wears off.
It’s okay to have a few plastic bags and to reuse plastic bags as much as possible. The goal is to simply use less of them. If you can reduce your usage down to only several plastic bags per year, rather than the estimated 300 currently used per person in the U.S., then consider yourself a successful bagonaut!
SHOPPING WITH YOUR REUSABLE BAGS
Take your reusable bags shopping today and every day to break the plastic shopping bag habit. Use them for shopping everywhere, your daily errands, craft projects, day trips, travel, etc.
Make a commitment to go 30 days applying these guidelines. If you forget, simply try to remember to shop with a reusable bag the next time. It will take time to retrain yourself. It does require a little extra effort and thought when working with checkout people who may not see many reusable bags. Cut yourself slack and others who may not understand what you are doing.
These action steps will make it easy for you and in no time you will be doing it automatically!
Step 1: Round up the usual suspects! The very first thing you want to do is to go through your home and collect up all of your plastic bags. You may want to keep a few for special occasions when plastic is helpful – all plastic bags are not bad – just using too many of them can be! Keep a few and take the rest in for recycling. Most supermarkets take them back for recycling at their stores. Pat yourself on the back for taking action Step 1!
Step 2: Invest in the future! Purchase some good, reusable bags. A Single person needs about 3 – 4. A family will need several. What I recommend is that you buy a beginner bag and see if you like it first. Then, invest in several bags re buy a few types. There are a variety of bags available; canvas, mesh, nylon, polypropylene, hemp, etc. What you want is a bag that works for you. Make sure it is durable and easy to use. Tote bags are not recommended as they are generally too small and the material may not be suitable for heavy items. Avoid back packs, as well. At the bottom of this page I recommend links to different types of bags. For example, the Chico bag may be preferred by men because it rolls up and comes in dark colors. Canvas bags can shrink even if washed in cold water. Bags with small pockets are good for receipts or shopping lists. If you have a church or civic club, or a business association, consider getting a bulk amount of bags together with your logo on them. Getting other people involved and making a group commitment to shopping safely with reusable bags will help you with your plastic diet and the planet as well.
Step Three: Mission to Bag Safely. Once you have your bags you will find that most fold neatly and easily in your car or a kitchen cabinet. Some backs even come with a loop of material that allows them to be hung from a hook. Most bags are convenient to use and fit in small spaces which make them easy to store. You can roll a few up and store them inside one bag or lay them flat in your car trunks. When shopping, give your bag to the cashier first before presenting the items you are purchasing or place your canvas bags on the counter first, in front of the items about to be rung up that you are purchasing. Fill them up full! These bags are strong and be sure to ask if you get any money back for using your own bags. Many supermarkets are now offering $.05 back per bag and they usually have a special numerical code that they have to enter for your discount. Ask if they give a bag credit wherever you shop. The cost of plastic and paper bags is added to all items we purchase by retailers. Everyone saves money when you reuse bags. Reuse small vegetable bags for supermarket produce. A single plastic produce bag can be used over and over. Another option is a small canvas, mesh or nylon produce bag.
Step Four: Practice and Persistence. The key is action. Keep a few canvas bags in the trunk of your car and, if you have a few extra, some by the front door, or the door to the garage, so you will remember to take them when you go out. If you get caught shopping without a reusable bag then shop old school - use your hands! Refuse a bag and carry the items without a bag. If you keep one bag in the trunk, or a tiny Chico bag in your purse or pocket, then you will always have a back-up. Whether you go to the supermarket, drugstore, clothes shopping, or a convenience store, challenge yourself to have a reusable bag with you. One good thing about reusable bags is that most have straps and can be easily thrown over your shoulder. Even when doing a lot of shopping at a mall you can carry your reusable bags over the shoulder rather then carrying them in your hands.
Step Five: After the Bagging. After you return home from shopping with your reusable bags, immediately fold them and place them near the door so you can pick them up on your way out or after you’re done unloading groceries/items, take the bags right back out to your car. It is good to have extra bags when you travel or for the times you do more shipping than usual – holiday, special; events, etc. Never leave home without your reusable bags. Every time you use these bags you help the environment.
Step Six: What else can I do? Avoid using plastic bags as trash can liners. This is the number one excuse by people who say they recycle by using them as trash bags. Instead, buy trash bags that are designed to be biodegradable. Leave your smaller trash cans or wastepaper baskets unlined and dump you trash directly into your large garbage cans or dumpster. If you have a large home and several waste paper baskets, then dump all of them into your kitchen can or the outside can periodically. If you are recycling your plastic, paper, cardboard and metal you will find that you are creating less so-called garbage. Rather than using wrapping paper for gifts, consider colorful gift bags instead. Once you have kicked the habit, consider giving a friend a reusable bag as a gift. Take the time to explain why you shop with reusable bags. You may find that when people understand the dangers of excessively using paper and plastic, and what it is doing to our environment, they may go on the 30 day plastic bag diet themselves!
The Pledge of Love (Courtesy of ChicoBag)
Because I share the vision of a society that cherishes Earth’s precious natural resources, I pledge to eliminate the unnecessary use of single-use plastic and paper bags. From this day forward, I will consistently use reusable bags whenever possible and in doing so will influence others to do the same.
Links to Reusable Bag Makers
Texas Earth Bag
Bagease
Bring Your Own Bag
ChicoBags
Go-Again Bags
Greenkits
Organic Fred
The Planet Bag
Globotote
Envirosax
Greensak
Earthwise
1Bag at a Time
Eco Bags
Get Hip Get Green
Related Plastic Bag Videos
Bagonaut
Sea Turtles Don't Shop Campaign
I Don't Need a Bag Song
Bag Monster Stalks Young Woman
Bag Monster Attacks
Canvas Bags - Tim Minchin
Cool Blogs
No Plastic Bags
Conserve Plastic Bags
No Impact Man
My 30 Day Plastic Bag Diet
Day 1 - Our group in San Angelo Texas, the Concho Holistic Association, decides to make a bulk purchase of 100 canvas grocery bags to reduce our own local consumption of plastic bags. We pass around a clipboard where people write down their name, contact information and how many bags they want, so I know how many to order. I have been compiling the information to present at our monthly meeting and I am shocked at the statistics on plastic bags. That people use many plastic bags for less than an hour before they toss them is surprising. At the meeting one member mentions a large open field in our town with discarded plastic bags and suggests that maybe we should do a group clean up? Although I have been using canvas bags for about 10 years for food shopping, I have not used them for other stores – drug store, electronics, clothing, etc. I make a pledge to myself to keep the reusable bags in the trunk of my car at all times and not to use any plastic shopping bags for the next thirty days – until the next meeting. I want to see if I can be an example of a person who reduces waste. I am inspired by Terri Calderon, the director of the recycling center in San Angelo – S.A.F.E. – the San Angelo Friends of the Environment, who starts collecting discarded paper at the conclusion of our meeting to take back to her center for recycling. It’s a good example for me and I decide I need to do something as well. I plan to bring a recycle box for all future meetings and collect paper rather than throwing it out.
Day 2 – On the way to have lunch with a friend I see the open field the person had mentioned from the meeting the night before. About 60 bags are trapped in bushes over a wide, vacant area. As I drive I also begin to notice bags all over the city. Now that I am paying attention, I am seeing through new eyes and I am much more conscious. I meet my friend for lunch at the hospital cafeteria and we get two meals to go. The food is expertly packed in Styrofoam containers. After eating at my friend’s house, I take my Styrofoam container and put it in my car. My friend asks me where my container went. I tell him that I intend to wash it out so that the next time we meet at the cafeteria I will bring the Styrofoam container with me. Several hours later I decide to get something to eat for dinner. I walk to a fast food restaurant to pick up a sub sandwich and a soda. As the sandwich is wrapped the counter person reaches for the plastic bag – I stop her – saying that I want to reduce my use of plastic bags. I carry out the soda and sandwich in my hands. Whew, that was a close one! When I get home I eat the sandwich and realize that I can recycle the paper they wrapped the sandwich in and, of course, the plastic soda bottle goes into my recycling bin. I regularly drop off my recyclables once every two weeks at the recycling center.
Day 3 – I do my weekly grocery shopping. I don’t need too much for the week – about two bags of food. The only time during my visit that I do use a plastic bag is when I get a head of lettuce. It is wet and the small, clear, plastic produce bag will keep it clean. As I rip off the produce bag from the huge roll next to the scale, I make a mental note to make sure I save this, new, smaller, plastic bag that I am putting the lettuce in and bring it back next time so I will not waste another bag. All I really need to do is stick it in the little side pocket of my canvas bag for safe-keeping. When I come up to the check-out counter, I do my usual routine. I place the gallon waterbottles first, followed by my two canvas grocery bags and then all the other food. The clerk rings up the water and the bagging person reaches for plastic bags. I point to the canvas bags. There is usually a moment of confusion – a disorientation where the bag person has to adjust to this unusual request rather than automatically and unconsciously whipping open more plastic bags with robot-like efficiency. Slowly, she understands what I want. I throw the water bottles in the cart and then start helping the bag person to fill the canvas bags. It comes time for me to pay for the food and I slide my debit card through the card reader. The last food items are 7 tomatoes, and while the clerk is handing me my receipt, the tomatoes roll on by to the bag person who automatically grabs a small plastic bag to wrap them in. I say in an anxious voice, probably a little louder than I need “No! No plastic bags, please. Just throw them in the canvas bags. There’s plenty of room.” And there is plenty of room. I think that I could tell them I am on a 30-day plastic shopping bag diet, but I am just relieved that I avoided another close call! I feel like a parent watching a toddler at a playground. I have to watch their every move. When I get home, I unload the groceries and immediately place my canvas bags in the trunk of my car for future use. This way whenever I go out I will always have them.
Day 4 – I decide to purchase some light bulbs at Wal-Mart. I am slowly changing all the light bulbs in my apartment to Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs – CFL’s. CFL’s use up to 75% less energy than a standard incandescent bulb and last ten times longer. In West Texas where I live the electricity rates are 3 to 4 times higher than what I had previously paid in Florida. Even when overseas gas prices go down, the rates stay high because like California, the Texas legislature has deregulated rates and prices have gone through the roof. The utility companies are making record profits, and despite competition, the prices never seem to come down. I figure the CFL bulbs will save electricity and are better for the environment. I walk around the new Wal-Mart Superstore and I notice that they have many skylights in the ceiling which creates natural light all over the store. The electric lights on the ceiling are on, but only at a fraction of their normal power. Obviously, Wal-Mart is trying to save money as well. I applaud their eco-friendly design, but I also notice that unlike the other Wal-Marts in town, there is no box to return plastic bags for recycling?
I come up to the counter with my canvas bag and a package of CFL bulbs. I hand the cashier my bag, she rings up the bulbs and then starts to put the bulbs and my canvas bag into a plastic bag! I stop her and say, “No, please put the bulbs in my bag” she complies, again another person disorientated by my request to use my own bags. I realize that she is trained to bag items quickly with the plastic bags. She is innocent, in a way. She is not conscious and probably not aware of the dangers of plastic bags. I have been shopping with reusable bags for about 14 years. I have reduced my usage of plastic bags because I don’t like waste. But the new facts I have learned about plastic bags have really opened my eyes to how they can harm the environment, animals and waste petroleum.
I visit a park in the afternoon. I sit in the car listening to music. The weather has warmed up today and people are outside jogging, walking dogs while kids toss a ball around. I look at the kids and wonder what kind of world they will inherit? I hear a famous Native American quote during the radio interview show I am listening to: “We have not inherited the Earth from our ancestors, we are borrowing it form our children” which coincidently is on our holistic association bags, along with our logo. I think about all the other people who fought for the environment so I would be safe. It feels like now we – the current generation living on the planet - are responsible for the future generation and the time to act is now.
Day 9 - I go out to lunch again with my friend from the hospital. We pick up lunch at the hospital cafeteria and plan to eat it at his home. I bring the Styrofoam container that I used from my last visit there and hand it to the food service person when she dishes out the food. I see some cake I want. I do have another container at home, but I forget to bring it. After eating I wash out the Styrofoam container for later use again. Styrofoam is hard to recycle. Our local recycle center does not take Styrofoam unless it is packing peanuts. That night I decide to get Chinese take-out for dinner. This restaurant packs all to go orders in brown paper bags. As I am walking out I feel bad about using paper. Paper bags are wasted as well and destroy trees. Do I really need to support that? I open my trunk and see my canvas bags. Quickly, I empty all the Chinese food containers into one of my canvas bags and walk back into the restaurant. I hand them back the paper bag and explain that I will use my canvas bag.
Day 10 - I go to Wal-Mart with a friend to help him get some CFL bulbs for his home. At the checkout counter I quickly show the bag to the cashier and it all gets properly packed in my bag. Our next stop is a Mexican restaurant where my friend decides to buy some burritos. They are made fresh for us and are packed into a small paper bag. My friend says that they are a little greasy and could stain a canvas bag. I decide to find a way to line the bottom of one of my canvas bags in some way to protect it when I get such things that might damage or stain canvas. When I go food shopping that evening I forget to bring the smaller produce plastic bags that I am now saving. I see some lettuce I want, but end up going with some that is already bagged to avoid using a new bag. I must remind myself that I need to bring them next time. As much as I get concerned about the unconsciousness of other people, I see that I can be unconscious as well and need to discipline myself. Doing the 30 day plastic diet is like an extreme sport! I am committed to extreme recycling where there is the excitement of saving resources and challenging the norm!
Day 13 – I am organizing a holistic expo event in San Angelo where I want to give out free canvas shopping bags to inspire people to stop using plastic bags. I do a presentation to the board of KSAB - Keep San Angelo Beautiful – at their monthly meeting. They unanimously vote to approve 100 bags with their logo on it for my event. I am pleased.
Day 14 - A friend of mine leaves something at my door – in a plastic bag – for me. I can’t escape all the plastic bags! The little bag is like a lost puppy that shows up at my door looking for love.
Day 15 – I go down to the print shop to see the sample of the new bags we ordered for the holistic association. I want to have them ready at the next meeting. The logo is in green and looks very good. I am still using the same three bags that I have had for many years. They are beat up, but do the job.
Day 18 – I am at supermarket and once again see that I have forgotten to bring the produce bags for the lettuce. I have to do better! I have to remember.
Day 19 – I pick up the order of 100 canvas bags for the holistic association and bring them back to my apartment. It is a surreal experience to see them all laid out in piles in my living room. It’s as if the idea I had to convert to reusable bags has multiplied! What is being mirrored back to me in that moment is all the energy, time and effort I have put into my plastic bag diet. I feel like a mad scientist who has cloned a legion of canvas bags in hopes of conquering the world with this idea. “Boy, I really do need a girlfriend!” I say to myself, laughing. Where will my bag obsession end?
Day 22 – I am on my way for an out of town business trip. I reach the airport security checkpoint at the San Angelo Airport. I am stopped and told that I must place all toiletry items containing liquid in a small plastic bag. It seems that I cannot fully escape from plastic. I may need bags from time to time. I might have to let go of trying to be perfect?
Day 23 - I am in Florida staying with friends. I go to a storage warehouse to help her find some things and find some of her reusable bags. I take them out for her. Later we go food shipping. I go out to the car to get her reusable bags. We are at the Publix supermarket chain. This is where I had gotten my first bags – the ones I still actually use. I notice right outside the door are three collection containers: one for plastic, one for paper and one for egg containers.
Day 30 – 30 days have passed and we are now at the holistic association monthly meeting. I give out the bags and then spend another week afterwards dropping off bags that were ordered by people who missed the meeting. I want them to have their bags so they will be able to use them. I enclose green sheets with each bag which give the facts about plastic bags on one side and care and use instructions on the other side. I want them to know what I know. Now I have become the “bagman” delivering bags. It’s kind of comical. I review the last 30 days and examine my progress. My conclusion is that 98% of the time I am going without plastic except for using the occasional plastic produce bag and the airport plastic bag surprise. When I forget to take reusable bags with me I resort to carrying out the items in my hands which is not that difficult. All in all I have done well. I now recommit to living this way and begin to look at other ways I can help the environment; Composting, buying products that contain no chemicals and possibly a hybrid car, and adopting sustainable practices in my own business – organizing events and trade shows. If every person can do their part, we can ensure a healthy planet for future generations. A new bagonaut is born!
"If not now - when?"
-- Hillel
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