May Project

So I was thinking about what sustainable area I'm weakest in, and by far it is reusing bags. I just forget to use my cloth bags. I decided to take advantage of May and make it my personal sustainability month. I'm going to put reusable bags and grocery bags in my car, in the pouch on the bike, and make a point of using them.

Why is plastic so bad? Well, it doesn't biodegrade, it pollutes the environment, and it leeches cancer-causing toxicants into our food. The best argument for me involves charismatic megafauna (big cute animals). Plastic bags end up in the ocean, and sea turtles eat them, thinking they are delicious jellyfish. More and more they are finding dead sea turtles with stomachs full of plastic. They aren't the only animal either. The US is the leading consumer of plastic in the world, so I'm hoping my readers will join me in reusing their bags, whether choosing to use cloth grocery bags, or just using last week's bags again and again. Cloth is a better choice, but feel free to ease into it. Whatever it takes to make the change. Otherwise, you are no better than those seagulls that snatch up the cute baby turtles in every nature documentary (you know, the part where you shut your eyes). At least the seagulls do it to survive.

My project for the month is going to be making reusable produce bags. As a vegetarian, I end up shopping the produce isle twice a week, which means I either use a ton of individual bags, or I let my produce roll loose around. I tend to do the latter, but it really isn't practical or convenient for the long haul.

What I have is this one reusable produce bag made out of mesh with a draw string. I'm going to use it as a template and make myself 5 or 6 of these so I can stop killing the sea turtles. I'll post results when I make the bags (probably wait until I have access to my mother's sewing machine). I'm excited for this change, and I hope it inspires a few others to start reusing bags. It really will make a difference.