Build On The BYOB Momentum With Reusable Grocery Bags!

"Have I remembered to BYOB this year?". This is a query everybody should ask himself or herself. We are midway through 2010 and there has never been a more important time to bring your own eco friendly reusable shopping bags. When you BYOB, instead of using single-use plastic or paper disposable bags, you instantly become a piece of the solution to the enormous urban litter problem associated with disposable shopping bag waste. As of July 1st 2010, it is estimated that over 240 billion plastic bags have been consumed in 2010 alone. Whats even more alarming is the effect that plastic and paper single-use bags are continuing to have on the ecosystem. The purpose of this article is to look at the most recent information regarding large-scale efforts to decrease the use of plastic and paper throw-away bags along with the associated litter, and discuss what choices are available to us individual consumers in order to know for sure we are a part of the answer to this problem.

The excellent news is that BYOB momentum is growing rapidly in 2010. Provided you havent heard yet, the California legislature has proposed a bill; AB 1998 (to be voted on by the Senate in August), which would ban single-use bags sold in supermarkets, drugstores, convenience, and liquor stores and take full effect by 2013. Even The Governator, Arnold Schwarzenegger, said that he would sign his name on the bill if it makes it to his desk. This certainly could be a huge victory for all friends of the natural world to have the largest state, inside the 3rd largest country on the planet, to put a prohibition on disposable plastic bags. Considering that China initially cracked down on plastic bags in 2008 and Ireland lawmaking efforts to lower plastic bag consumption began in 2002, it is so wonderful to hear that California lawmakers have introduced this bill to the table.

In America, metropolitan areas from San Francisco to Los Angeles to Washington DC have approved or enacted laws that either tax customers for the utilization of plastic bags or ban them overall, but California would be the first American state to take action if this bill were to be approved. Believe it or not, even lawmakers from the state of Texas have written possible legislation that would insert a seven-cent tax for each throw-away bag used. It is so exciting that there is a prospect that both Texas and California might soon have laws and regulations in place to fight the plastic bag craze. Hard work by persons and governments to shrink large-scale use of single-use grocery bags is a wonderful way to encourage people and spread the word about the overwhelmingly positive benefits of ecologically friendly reusable shopping bags.

Single-use plastic bags might take up to one thousand years to biodegrade fully, and prior to that it just breaks down in to smaller and smaller poisonous pieces that wind up inside our food, water, and soil. Biodegradable bags, are a wonderful option, once discarded in landfill sites, the exposure to sunlight, oxygen, and high temperature will convert these bags into water, carbon dioxide, mineral salt and biomass. Akin to a fallen leaf, it will vanish in time plus leave Zero Toxic Residue in the soil. Plastic bags wind up in our landfills as well as regularly get tangled and bring about permanent damage in waste management equipment. Tens of millions if not billions of further bags end up as urban litter and frequently find their way in to creeks, large bodies of water, streams, in addition to the ocean. Creatures, especially marine animals, get entangled in single-use plastic bags, and/or swallow them and regularly suffocate or starve to death.

So the resolution brings us back to BYOB, which is extremely easy. Just remember to use environmentally friendly reusable grocery bags or recycled grocery bags, or reuse an older bag, period. Be sure to keep spare reusable bags in your vehicle or in your backpack, because you will want to make sure they are accessible when you require them. Also remember to sanitize your bags after use, particularly after transporting uncooked foods and/or cleaning supplies. You may also present them to your friends and family as a reminder to BYOB. Of course, continuously remember to recycle when the chance presents itself, recycling is always a win-win situation for the natural world. Adopting a BYOB habit in our individual lives and organizations is in truth the best way to guarantee we are truly part of the resolution rather than the problem. Right now is the time to go out and lead by example.