byoc?

Wowzers! I've been mulling over this very idea for quite some time now! In fact, I've had many friends (you all know who you are, too!) make fun of me with lines like "so you did remember to bring your Tupperware to the restaurant, right? No stryofoam for you!" with a wink and a nudge. But honestly, this is one thing I've never really been able to do. Oh oh oh! This could be my 2011 eco-challenge! Oh oh oh! Hmm... and the wheels they start a spinnin'! The idea is taking a reusable container to restaurants with you! - BYOC (bring your own container!) And Takeout Without is leading the way!

Now, I'd see this more so as an "after you've eaten at a restaurant and have leftovers to bring home" kind of thing. I'm not sure how you'd do this with a situation like calling in takeout? "Hold on, I'll stop by and bring you some Glad ware, and then I'll come back to pick up the food a little later!" But for leftovers, this would work great! It's just the same ole' "what will people at the restaurant/the waiter/waitress/friends I'm dining with/chef/my grandmother/God think of me bringing along a container for my leftovers? Will I embarrass myself?!" Well, God would love the idea! He's all for the planet, don't you know!

Wait a minute, though. That's the exact same thought process I once had towards reusable bags! Or telling my friends and family I no longer use paper towels! And I've moved way past any of those uncomfortable feelings. You don't like my reusable bag? Well, suck my five fingered fist of plastic bag freedom! No paper towels in the house make you sad? Get out and don't come back! No, not even for Christmas! In fact, especially not even for Christmas! (I'm working on my anger issues, ok?) So this might be just as easy! Don't like me pulling out my reusable takeout container in the restaurant? Put'em up! We're gonna fight! Steak knives and broken wine glasses for weapons! (Still working on those anger issues. It's only been like two sentences, what did you expect from me, an anger-free miracle?! Cause it ain't gonna happen, mister! You hear me! Oh no, wait, not again... count to ten, count to ten.)

So check this out from Takeout Without's website:

"Say no to unnecessary packaging. Fill your stomach. Not the landfill.

It takes approximately 20 seconds to put our food into take out containers. Convenient? No, it's actually inconvenient since the packaging can remain in our landfills forever, causing continued damage to us and our world. The American population tosses out enough paper bags and plastic cups, forks and spoons every year to circle the equator 300 times. TakeOutWithOut exists to help you to fill your stomach, not the landfill.

Our actions can be powerful! Every little bit counts. We can't aim for perfection, but we can aim for improvement by saying NO to unnecessary packaging and even toting our own reusables. TakeOutWithOut - enjoy your food, save your money, improve your health and help our planet!"

For all the details, go here! What do you think of this idea? Lust it? Hate it? Have you done this? Ever got into a fight with someone and used steak knives and broken wine glasses? (If so, who won, and do you still have both of your eyes?) Let method lust know what you think of Takeout Without! Could this be your 2011 eco-challenge?

slapping some cents into you?

Lawmaker puts price on use of plastic bags | By Jimmy Vielkind

"If Assemblyman Micah Kellner has his way, someone carrying a plastic bag full of groceries would get the same disdainful looks that might be directed at a pregnant lady smoking, or someone walking away from the stinky contribution their pooch has made to a New York City sidewalk.

"I want to make it a faux pas to be seen on the street with a plastic bag," said Kellner, a Manhattan Democrat. "While we may use plastic bags for a couple of minutes to bring home our groceries, they stay in the environment for thousands of years."

Kellner is sponsoring a bill, introduced late last month, that would impose a 25-cent tax on every plastic bag used to carry groceries or other store merchandise in New York City. The same bill would incentivize the use of reusable shopping bags -- made of canvas or thicker, sometimes recycled plastic -- by allowing grocers to give them to consumers if they leave a quarter as a deposit. After a year, the unclaimed quarters would be swept to City Hall's coffers. A tax break would be offered to cover "a majority" of the cost of reusable bags, which cost over $1 on the low end, more if you want hemp or recycled cotton.

Kellner notes that because plastic bags often end up as litter, his measure would keep streets cleaner. And if the bags do make it to landfills, the non-biodegradable, petroleum-based sacks outlive us all.

Kellner cited a reusable bag company's claim that the average American will go through 60 bags after four shopping trips.

David Vermillion, a spokesman for Hilex Poly, the nation's largest recycler and manufacturer of plastic bags, framed it this way: "By that math, he's taxing a family $3.75 every time they go to the grocery store -- money they could use to buy milk for their children."

Vermillion notes that plastic bags are 100 percent recyclable, and many municipalities have taken steps to make it easier for consumers to have them reprocessed. Albany County unanimously passed a law in 2008 requiring stores larger than 10,000 square feet (the size of the average Price Chopper or Target) to place bins outside their doors allowing consumers to drop off used bags. It mirrored a similar law that went on the books in New York City earlier that year.

Price Chopper stores also offer a 3-cent-per-bag rebate for customers who bring their own reusable carriers. But the Big Apple's residents still go through 5.2 billion plastic bags a year, according to a 2009 estimate by the New York City Department of Sanitation.

"That's billion with a B," said Kellner..."

Read the rest over on TimesUnion.com

Thoughts?

bag it!

Check out this amazing documentary from Suzan Beraza. The film examines the impact of plastics on the environment, marine animals and human health. (And we all know what method lust (Nathan Aaron) thinks of plastic bags! Evil!)

Lots more information can be found on the official website!

bless her bag

So I did a little trip to Walmart tonight (have I told you recently how much I hate that place? Oh, I have? Ok. Then why did you go there tonight, Nathan? Well, let's just move on, alright...) and picked up three things. A box of cereal and two frozen dinners (Special K and Health Choice! Ah, and you thought I was being all bad with my eating.)

Went up to the register, and waited in line, pulled out my reusable bag all ready and in hand. Now, I haven't had a peep from anyone concerning reusable bags in a long, long while! Yay! And this wasn't REALLY about the reusable bag, but still. Ahem. - Get to the counter, the elderly woman (hold that thought) started ringing up my cereal and SLAP into a plastic bag it went. Picture this. I'm on the left. Register and cashier in the middle, endless merry-go-round of plastic bags on the right. So I politely said "Ma'am, you can just put that in my own bag I brought." Trying to be nice, ok?

Ignoring me, she continued ringing up my meals, and reached over for the plastic bag again, and I said (getting worried here) "MA'AM! I have my own bag." And she said "I know you have your own bag! I've already started putting your stuff in this bag!" as she was (luckily) pulling out my cereal from the plastic bag. Then as if to just get in one last little bit she said "anyway, you're bag is supposed to be in this area at all times" pointing to the merry-go-round of bags. She shoved the stuff in my reusable bag (I could definitely feel some sort of reusable bag hostility going on) and I said very loudly as I'm punching in my debit card numbers "I'm just trying to save the world a little bit here!"

And with that I walked out. Hey, it wasn't a big thing, small in fact. But for some reason it got under my skin. But hey, I had to simply say to myself "Bless her heart, she's like 350 years old. She's just tired is all." and let it go.

Those of you who are from, or have lived in the South and know exacty what people REALLY mean when they say "Bless your heart" down here, well, they'll know what I was really thinking...

real results

Earlier this week method Twittered this article titled "Did D.C.'s bag tax work?" and the results are mind-blowing!

"Yes, it did.

The District's 5-cent bag tax generated about $150,000 during January to help clean up the Anacostia River, even though residents have dramatically scaled back their use of disposable bags, according to a report city officials issued Monday.

In its first assessment of how the new law is working, the D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue estimated that food and grocery establishments gave out about 3 million bags in January. Before the bag tax took effect Jan. 1, the Office of the Chief Financial Officer had said that about 22.5 million bags were being issued each month in 2009.

That's an 82 percent reduction in the number of plastic bags and $150,000 for the city. Hopefully this'll encourage Santa Barbara and other wavering cities."

+

Did you get that? In one month they generated $150,000 for the city to use for (hopefully) eco-cleanup! And they went from giving out 22.5 million bags (and this is one city! That's the thing, imagine HOW many bags are given out each year when D.C. alone gives out 22.5 million!? That's freakin' insane) to 3 million bags.

And their reduction in the number of plastic bags given was: 82%. EIGHTY. TWO. PERCENT. That my friends, is what you call RESULTS. Seriously, I'm shocked. Imagine if every city did this? In fact, every state.

Screw the plastic bag industry. I hate that people might lose their jobs (I genuinely do.) But I've also had it up to the tip-top of my head with industries plodding forward like nothing's wrong cause "that's how they've always done it, and until there is a rule put into place we'll just do what we've always done Hell or high water - for better or worse." Sick of it. It's time companies, corporations, and industries were responsible for what they do and create! Something you'll be hearing much more about here on method lust, trust me.

82%. How about my hometown of Greensboro, NC tries this out. I mean, we are freakin' called GREENSboro. Maybe it's about time we started acting like it...

are you a good bag, or a bad bag?

Intriguing! Walmart is currently doing reusable bag testing in a select number of their stores, where you are REQUIRED to purchase a reusable bag (or bring your own!) View the video here (embedding has been unfortunately disabled!) Then come on back. Don't worry, I'll wait. I have a cup of hot tea and some mint M&Ms to keep me busy til you get back...

+

So, what do you think? Personally, I think it's a great idea (to a point!) If people won't do it on their own (and we all know the majority of Americans. They don't do anything unless they're made to! Wait, did I just say that?) than just make them buy the bags. My only problem with this "solution" is something people don't always keep in mind. Reusable bags can become just as much of a problem as plastic bags, if the situation isn't kept in check. If someone went to Walmart and bought a new set of reusable bags every time, well, that's just wasteful. And landfill-ful, after a while, too. I have seven reusable tote bags. Six regular size, one oversized for big purchases. And that's it. That's all I need. I resist (most) urges to take more, when they're given to me (unless they're method totes! Then I just grab! Ha ha!)

But I remember when I first starting doing the reusable totes thing, it was hard at times for me to remember my bags, also. Now I ended up carrying the items out in my arms, bagless. Sort of a "punishment" to remind me to bring my bags with me next time. But I can see how after a while people might either get frustrated from having to buy them multiple times, and that will help them remember; or they'll just finally get into the habit.

What I'm NOT a fan of is Walmart's low-end cheap reusable bag "that will tear after a while." They're completely missing the entire point! But then Walmart equaling cheap? Who would have guessed! Ahem... But hopefully they're on the right track, and people will catch on with time.

Thoughts?

the great pacific garbage patch

+

You can also check out this documentary on The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, on VBS.tv (the first three, of eleven, are currently online.) video one | video two | video three

+

And here's an interesting observation, from one viewer:

"My first thought after watching was “I am NEVER using plastic again!”. But seriously folks, that is not an easy thing to do. The computer I’m typing on right now is made of plastic. My glasses have plastic in the frames. I’m not sure it would even be possible to replace everything in my life that is made with plastic (my car, for example). While I applaud the efforts of bloggers like Fake Plastic Fish and Life Less Plastic the sad reality is that this problem – the toxic plastic garbage wasteland of the North Pacific gyre – is not going to go away because a few of us choose to use stainless steel tupperware or cloth grocery bags. The problem is not only global (want another freaky thought? there are four other oceanic Gyres on Earth…) , but goes to the very nature of our society and its dependence on a material that is non-biodegradable and unmanageable as waste. It’s bad enough that we Westerners created this stuff and then became totally dependent on it, but now we are exporting our disposable plastic lifestyle to countries that lack curbside recycling and waste management facilities.

But even if we were to recycle every piece of plastic manufactured there would still be the issue of garbage (ever seen what happens to the area around a McDonalds restaurant, despite the presence of multiple waste bins?). There’s also those darned nurdles – the tiny plastic pellets that are melted down and then coloured and moulded into the final product – which escape from train cars and truck beds, blowing in the wind like dust, and collecting all over the earth’s surface including the oceans.

I think what needs to happen is we need to make this issue so well-known that people raise enough of a stink about it to prompt some change. People need to start viewing plastic the same way we view non-dolphin friendly tuna. Our society needs to invent/find materials to replace plastic that can be disposed of responsibly and which do not pose such a threat to life on this planet.

In the meantime, I’m going to do my bit by trying to cut all unnecessary plastic out of my life (starting with my shampoo). I have written in the past about being plastic bag free; Google around and you’ll come up with many more suggestions and tips. And if you feel overwhelmed, as I did when I first watched that documentary, just take a deep breath and say to yourself “One step at a time”… Spread the word, and hopefully one day the ecological horror show that is Garbage Island will become simply one more embarrassing episode of human history that we somehow managed to survive without going extinct.
- Rural Aspirations"

+

In one great note that made me happy this weekend, I've discovered that there are a few cashiers at Target that now, even if I don't pull out my reusable tote/don't have it with me at that moment the cashier will not place the item in a bag, but simply put it on the counter while I finish checking out. (Sometimes I forget it, rarely; but sometimes. In those cases though, I ALWAYS carry the item out bagless. Always.) They actually recognize me as the "reusable tote guy!" and I don't even have to yell out quickly "I have my own bag!" anymore! Yes, see, you can teach old cashiers new tricks (or even young cashiers, or middle-age cashiers, or...!)

and so it begins again...

So, this starts again today! I'm so very excited (goodies, trinkets, retro Christmas records!) But if you've read my previous post on the subject, it wasn't without its downfalls. BUT, this year, I have a new (less evasive, but hopefully not wuss-out) plan in mind. I'll let you know how it goes. Pray for me (OR rather, pray for the old ladies running the thing!...)

clean thoughts

A thought today as I was eating at Subway. When is that chain going to catch on that plastic bags are BAD! I eat there regularly, because it's (basically) healthy, and I ALWAYS say NO PLASTIC BAG when I get to the check out. Because, get this, they are literally making your sandwich, wrapping it up for you; uh, it's good to go at this point, then shoving it in a plastic bag with some napkins, all so you can walk five steps to your table (because to go or not to go, it hits the plastic bag), take your sandwich out, and throw the bag away. It's worse than grocery bags! At least they make trips! How wasteful is this? Imagine the amount of money Subway could save it they'd just stop with the plastic bags? And yes, you CAN carry your drink, chip bag, and wrapped up sandwich to the car, without a plastic bag. YES, you can. In fact, you can do a lot, if you just put your mind to it. So next time you're at Subway, just say NO to the plastic bag.

+

Hmm. A friend of mine this weekend opened my eyes to something rather thought provoking! I was (of course) talking about saving the earth, going green, etc. and he said to me "You know, it really has nothing to do with saving the planet. I mean, more than likely, the planet will bounce back. We might take it to the brink, but when mankind is gone, it'll come back, and take over once more. What we're really talking about when we say saving the planet is saving mankind from extinction, because we'll have made the planet uninhabitable. That's what we're really trying to save here."

A very interesting point of view, don't you think? I mean, yeah, we know the reasons we do what we do is to make the planet a better place for man and animal; but I wonder if it'd have more or less impact if we started using "Save Mankind" instead of "Save The Planet." Would we get the same results (which as far as my jadedness is concerned, is fleeting disinterest from most people?) Curious...

apple of my eye

As if we actually needed one more reason to love Apple and it's amazing product line (school yard diss of the day: "Apples rock, PC's suck!"), not only are they going green with their notebooks and packaging, but now it's NO more plastic bags! Yes!

"In its latest effort to positively impact the environment, Apple's retail stores have initiated a new "no plastic bags" policy to cut back on the amount of unnecessary packaging it dumps in the hands of shoppers.

Apple store visitors who make more than handful of purchases in the store are offered assistance to their car or the option of leaving their items at the store while they continue shopping, in the case of retail outlets located in a mall.

The move reflects the company's efforts to push the envelope in going green, a central feature of both its advertising and product design. The company was among the first to reduce the size of its software packaging and has developed some of the slimmest boxes of any consumer electronics maker. It has also shunned plastic optical media in favor of electronic distribution from iTunes sales to web-based video distribution in iLife and MobileMe.

Getting rid of plastic bags is the next step. The city and county of San Francisco banned plastic shopping bags in grocery stores a year ago, and a variety of US cities have expressed interest in following suit including Austin, Texas; Boston, Massachusetts; Portland, Oregon; and Phoenix, Arizona.

San Francisco now has 5 million fewer of the difficult to recycle plastic bags per month hitting its landfills. Internationally, Paris and London have since enacted similar bans. In Ireland and Germany, shoppers pay a recycling fee for plastic bags, prompting many shoppers to bring their own baskets or carts."
- Appleinsider.com

+

Too cool! Papa so needs a new iPod! And ugh, everytime I read this line (in so many environmental articles focusing on plastic bags) "...a variety of US cities have expressed interest in following suit...(in banning plastic bags)" WHAT is the hold up? I swear, get on with it already! I mean, it just grates on my nerves when it takes mankind so long to just do something. Plastic bags = bad = ban = done! Move on, next item. Grr. Rant over.

sign of the times

My great friend, Sam, has this really amazing job that allows him to travel all over the world (and yes, I'm disgustingly jealous! It's so not fair! Why me, why me?! Wait, sorry, ok, let me regain my composure...) Yay for him! SO, he's currently in Cairo, Eygpt! (As you can see from the pic!) And he got this great opportunity to see the Pyramids via horse (what happened to the camels?!) and, upon seeing this, had to send me the following pic:

Plastic bags trapped on Khafre's Pyramid! This Pyramid was built between 2558 and 2532 BC. If ever there was a sign of the times!

hey you, bag boy!

Wow! Hmm... seems all my baggy goodness with reusable totes might be turning the tide! Instead of getting odd stares and into the occasional fist fight with cashiers over their loose plastic bag ways (well, no actual fist fights. But I enjoy them in my head sometimes. "Take that, Cashier Girl! And that! Maybe next time you'll think twice before double plastic bagging that can of tuna!" And once the dust settles, so ends another episode of The Heroic Bag Boy!...) Whoa, where was I?

Oh, the tide is turning! In fact, within the past two weeks I've received two surprise comments. One from K-Mart, upon telling her I didn't need a bag, she said:

"Oh, yeah, you're the guy that never takes a plastic bag! Why can't I remember not to ask you? I see you all the time! It's great how you always use your tote bag." which might say something about how much I've been to Kmart lately (Gah! I know, but it's like, two feet from our offices, so...)

And today at Bath And Body Works, I say to the woman (and I'm seriously barely ever in this store!) that I don't need a bag, pull out my tote, and she says:

"Oh, you're the guy with the cool looking tote bag!"

I had to do a double take on that one, cause I swear I've met her maybe, twice before? Man, word travels fast! So remember next time, tote it! You might get a nice word or two from the cashier (of all things!) Hey, what was once "earthy crunchy" is now oh so hip! And really, don't we all like to (secretly) be on the cutting edge of hip? Oh yes, yes we do. Pick some up at baggubag.com (Cause I love me some Baggu! So seriously!)

Paper towels. Check! Plastic bags. Check! - Here's my question for you! I'm taking suggestions as to what you think my next environmental goal should be? Give me your thoughts, suggestions, and ideas for Eco Challenge 2009! Don't be shy! (Remember that time during last years New Years party? Yeah, you're not shy. Don't even try to pretend...)

what next?

Uhm, yeah, I'm so excited! Because my favorite (right below method's very own "Plastic Rehab" tote, of course!) reusable tote, the Baggu bag (see pic), now comes in three sizes! So awesome! These things work great!

Which leads me to asking you, dear lustful readers, a question! By now you should all know my No More Plastic Bags + Paper Towels Challenge! (And if you don't, shame on you! No fruitcake for you! Well, wait that might not be much of a punishment...) You can read up on my Plastic Bag Challenge, as well as the Paper Towel Challenge, and then you'll be all caught up!

And hey, insert sly smile here, it's almost New Years! What a great time to add these two challenges to your resolutions for next year! I swear, I've said it so many times, but you'll never miss either of these two items. I can't even remember when I bought paper towels now (ok, so it was like four, five months ago. But that's a long time without paper towels!) My microfiber cloths work like a charm! And plastic bags from a retail store? Gah! Never again. Lately I've been forgetting my reusable totes when I head into the grocery store for ONE item and walk out with like, six. And I literally just precariously carry them out of the store, bagless (with receipt in hand in case anyone things I did a grab and run! LOL) I get an occasion odd look from a customer walking into the store as I walk out, but at this point, I seriously don't care! All that beginners worry is gone ("What will others think?" "Will they wonder if I stole this?" "How pushy can I be to make them use my tote?" "Do I look pretty in pink?" "Of course I look pretty in pink! What kind of question was that?!") Yes!

YOU...
CAN...
DO...
IT!

I promise you can. I had the same questions, worries, and "I'll never be able to pull this off" that you do. And yes, every once in a while I do stumble upon some use for a paper towel that I have to work out in my head (bacon, wood stain, etc.) But you'll figure it out, just as I do (or uh, just ask me! I don't have all the answers, but uhm, most of them. Yeah, I have a secret answers book. I use it to get my way in life. Erm, I mean, to help others out!) And tada, you're all the better for it.

+

Your Question
Ok, ok, enough pushing. Here's my question for you! I'm taking suggestions as to what you think my next environmental goal should be? Give me your thoughts, suggestions, and ideas; and I'll pick one as my next Challenge!

"Oh man, and then he'll harp on it forever. Just like those dang paper towels and plastic bags!" Yes, yes, I will. But you know you secretly lust all my harping, yes you do.

clean sweeps

+ Whoa! Check out this awesome chandelier, made entirely from method's iconic (and now vintage, sniff sniff!) dish soap bottles! It's beautiful! method posted this recently on their twitter account! Remember, you can follow along with their tweets and twitters right here on method lust! Just check the right sidebar for updates!

+ Ok, so I almost had a plastic bag battle of words this weekend. Ha ha! Well, to be honest I wasn't in the best of mental spaces at this particular moment on Saturday as I stood in line at Target (you can read all about it over on my other (yes, other!) blog Silver Glitter Falling. It pertains to attending my first ever gay marriage equality rally, and why I ended up attending! Let's just say two close-minded men got me all riled up! Which led me to...) standing in line at Target.

This woman was purchasing some sort of cover for her bed, which was completely in it's own zipped up plastic bag, like they usually come. And as she made her purchase, and as I stood there with my reusable tote in hand; she asked if they had a large plastic bag to put her purchase in. She wanted a large plastic bag to put her plastic bagged cover in?! What the heck? Oh, I was just not in the mood that day. And I was SO very close to blurting out "You know, your cover is already in a plastic bag! Why do you think you need another one? All you'll do is carry it home, and throw the thing away! Don't you know they're bad for the environment! How about you attempt to think before you just blindly go about your life? Huh! Huh?! Don't you love kittens and puppy dogs and polar bears? No, it appears you don't. Cause every plastic bag you take drowns a polar bear. That's right, woman! That's right! Think about that for a moment! Why don't you go over there and pick yourself up a reusable Target tote. Now, do it now! I'll wait! SAVE THE WORLD!" and then my mind snapped back, and I thought "So THAT'S how some of those Greenpeace people get after a while..." No wonder they head into questionable territory with some of their actions. Standing around and watching other people NOT think (or care?) can get to you after a while!

And while standing up for your rights, and beliefs is important; I also realized berating an older woman for taking a plastic bag given the current irritated mental state I was in at the moment MIGHT not be the best medicine to hand out. Peace and love, peace and love. Ah, mom would be so proud!

+ ...and speaking of plastic bags, method's people against dirty blog posted this recently!

"NYC mayor looking to ban plastic bags

There's an article on TreeHugger that's really something to boast about. NYC mayor, Michael Bloomberg, is looking to charge consumers 6 cents per plastic bag (5 of which would go to the city, 1 of which would go back to the store). The hope is to reduce the use of plastic shopping bags and promote the use of reusable shopping bags.

Plastic bags are an inefficient use of non-renewable materials – they take a long time to break down, are brutally ugly eyesores, can interfere with water drainage and recycling systems and, worst of all, are totally unnecessary. Companies around the world churn out over 4 trillion plastic bags a year. Ugh.

While paper bags are a better option in some respects, they are still unneeded waste. This is why we love the idea of promoting the use of reusable shopping bags. They're a much better alternative for the environment and some stores even give you discounts for bringing in your own bag. These bags can be made of a bunch of different materials all varying in their degree of greenness, but what makes them really effective is when you use them over and over and we're all in support of that.

Our own hometown, San Francisco, became the first city in the US to ban the use of plastic bags back in 2007. While we like to think that SF helped pave the way for other cities to realize just how dirty plastic bags can be, we are most impressed by the results seen in Ireland, who placed a 15 cent levy on plastic bags in 2002, and saw a 90% reduction in their use (resulting in 1 billion fewer bags used per year) and raised over 12 million dollars of dedicated environmental program funding in the first year – all things that we’d love to see result from the New York City plan. And in case you didn't know it, we have our own version of a reusable bag that'll help get you into plastic bag rehab too."

mini-rant

Ugh! You know what irritates me even more than watching someone get five plastic bags at a retail store, one for every item they purchase (because cashiers nowadays don't know how to bag properly!)

It's when cashiers use plastic bags AS paper wrap in order to "protect" glass/ceramic items from breaking. So NOW not only do you have five plastic bags, but the six ceramic mugs you just purchased are each wonderfully nestled in their own evil plastic bag cushions. That's seven plastic bags, for six ceramic mugs. And that's just one of the five bags you got from the cashier! And they're all going right in the trash when you get home. (Did I just witness this, yes I did.)

I mean, whatever happened to tissue paper, people!

+

Mini-rant, over.

like, paper or plastic?

How cool are these girls? They do it all in fun, but teach us at the same time! I lust it!

+

Speaking of paper and plastic, how has your August plastic bag + paper towel challenge gone so far? What challenge, you ask? (Tsk-tsk!) You can read more about the paper towel challenge here, and the plastic bag challenge here! Ok, so perhaps I hadn't yet merged the ideas together, to create one grand CHALLENGE, but I'm doing it now! Can you live plastic bag + paper towel free? Try it for one month! I swear, it's easier than you think. No paper towels, no way!? Really, I can't believe how easy it's been to transition from paper towels to washable microfiber towels. So easy! And plastic bags? Away with you, Mr. Bag! Go totes!

You can read all sorts of plastic bag and paper towel commentary on method lust, just do a search and enjoy! Enjoy being beaten over the head, that is! Ha! And get ready, next up, those eee-vil plastic water bottles.

Before I go, Luster Sprocket asks:

"Nathan, do you know if there is any difference between the various Method microfiber cloths besides their colour? I'd think they would all (glass, wood, granite, steel) work just as well on any surface?"

I do think they're constructed differently texture wise, to clean the specific surface they're made for. BUT I have to admit, not having any granite surfaces, I have used that cloth as a general purpose cloth on many an occasion. But I'm rather conditioned to use the glass on glass, and the wood on wood, etc. What do you all think?

when will it end?

Not the use of plastic bags (though that's a good question, too!) But rather, Nathan's incessant plastic bag blogging this week! Ah! But I had to, there is such a timely article in my local newspaper today! The title is "Sack The Plastic Bag"! And I thought I'd do a quick run down of some numbers they have in the article:

1957 + The first year plastic bags were introduced in the United States for bread, fruit and vegetables.

Late 1960s + First plastic garbage bags appeared in US homes.

April 2007 + San Francisco is the first US city to ban plastic bags. Other cities considering a ban: Annapolis, MD; Austin, TX; Bakersfield, CA; Boston, MA; New Haven, CN; Phoenix, AZ; Portland, OR

100,000,000,000 (one hundred billion) plastic bags are thrown away by Americans each year

12 million barrels of oil are used to make and transport the bags used in the US each year

0.6% of bags are recycled

400-1000 years to break down; chemicals could remain even longer

4-5 trillion plastic bags are produced worldwide each year

100,000 marine animals die each year from plastic bag entanglement


Things you can do:

+ Keep reusable cloth bags in your car to be available when needed

+ Forgo using a plastic bag if your purchase is small and easy to carry

what's it all for?

While rambling on about my latest plastic bag adventures, a fellow method luster posted this comment, which I thought would make for an interesting back and forth on everyone's thoughts here; as well as a little more insight from myself.

"ok... not to sound too naive. i understand why plastic bags are so bad for the environment... i get that. here's my question... is the hope that by not taking plastic bags, we will show the plastic bag makers that people don't use them and therefore there is no need to make them anymore? because obviously by not taking one you're not really saving one from being made (i mean the bag is still there). i know this is all obvious observation. and what about paper bags? are they ok? and if they are, then how come retailers aren't replacing plastic with paper. or are we now getting into the cutting down trees issue? well then they could make paper bags out of recycled paper. what if in 10 years they realize these tote bags are causing land-fill problems... what then? i'm just saying. really though, i am in support of reusable totes because i am so sick of ALL the flippin' plastic bags under my sink... even though i do reuse them (but that still means they eventually end up in the trash). but, like kristin, i forget to take the totes with me... boo!
- anonymous"

I wonder if it's someone from method? It's all written in lowercase! Ha ha! Here's my seven and a half cents. (Inflation, you know. Two cents gets you nothing these days.)

Uhm, I'm a bit of a shopper. Like crazy. Anyone know of a good Shoppers Anonymous meeting in the North Carolina area? Email me. SO, anyway, I used to have lots of plastic bags. I read this post last night, and starting trying to figure out a number of how many plastic bags I probably accumulated in a month. I really have no idea. But I'm gonna go with like, fifty. Just think, if you just purchased one item each day, that's one bag. And we all know how many plastic bags you might walk out with in just one grocery store trip; or the three things you buy, and the cashier puts each one in a separate bag (I wanna hit those people, really badly.) And one bag a day is already thirty bags. So it adds up quickly. If you keep that in mind, it's June; I would have, by now, accumulated around 275 bags! And that's just ME! Now, take 275, and multiply that by the current American population: 304,025,506. (Whew!) That's 83,607,014,150 plastic bags! And that's just in the US!

Ok, this is NATHAN making-a-point math, so don't take it literally (though that is the US population as of May, 2008.) But just think, if everyone in the US carried three or so reusable totes instead, we would have kept 83,607,014,150 plastic bags from possibly ending up in landfills. By buying three Baggu bag totes this year (or your own favorite tote! I just love the Baggu! And don't forget, even method has their own Plastic Bag Rehab tote!), I just reduced my bag usage from 275, to 3! And at the end of the year, it'll be around 600, to 3. Crazy! Yes, plastic bags get recycled; but unlike plastic bottles and such, people have to actually TAKE them to a recycling box (at your local grocer and such) instead of just putting them into the recycling bin that gets picked up each week by your waste collector. And people are LAZY. My friends don't do this, for the most part. They just throw them away, or use them for litter; but it all ends up in the landfill.

I'm not sure if not using plastic bags would show the manufacturers that there was no need for them, and they'd stop making them. But it might help. (Think gas, if we all stopped driving, boy would gas prices drop!) If everyone used totes, and suddenly all the plastic bags that were made were just sitting around gathering dust, well, the manufacturers would have to stop making them, there would be no demand. I think there are just better solutions, and human beings don't always follow better solutions. They follow the mighty green dollar. So we have to take a stand at times, to improve things that might otherwise just keep on going.

Paper bags are, in my opinion, a better solution. You can get all into the details of how much energy, water, etc. one takes to make/recycle over the other, but I still think it's better than plastic. And you can ask for paper at your grocer, and they'll have it for you. I always smile happily when someone does that, even if they don't have a tote. And YES, I do already seriously think the reusable tote thing is going a bit crazy. Every store you walk into now has a reusable tote for sale; and people are like "I have thirty different totes! They're so cool!" Uh, but that's not the point. If everyone starts collecting that next cool tote, we're not really helping things out. Buy as many as you think you'll need (3-9?) and use them into the ground. I really think my Baggu bag will last a LONG time, and they are SO great! Yes, they are made from ripcord nylon. No, it's not the best for the environment; BUT it's better (to me) to use 3 ripcord nylon bags over the 600 plastic bags I would have picked up this year.

Somedays I think we're just screwed no matter. Paper = killing trees, forests, jungles, I hate that. Plastic kills everything, degrades into tiny molecules forever, birds, animals, it's sad. Biodegradable totes are the best way to go; but you know, do what you can, and try to make a difference. Just TRY (and DO) is the point. Instead of just saying "I want to, but..." You'd be surprised by how easy it becomes. (Even if you gotta beat down a few flea market ladies!)

What are your thoughts? Speak up, be heard! Do you use a tote?

plastic bag militia - updated!

Here he goes again, are ya ready? Two different points in this post. Read on, or run. Ha ha!

Ok, so this weekend we had a giant Hospice Flea Market in the town where I work. I mean, GIANT. Like giant warehouse, two floors big! Full to the brim with flea market finds (I was in the record section for like, an hour. Crazy!) Uh, but giant warehouse, two floors = NO air conditioning. I seriously think I lost eight pounds (I spent about four hours in there total.) walking those floors, just sweating the fat off. Ok, well, I'm sure I didn't, but I wish I had! But it was HOT! Freakin' hot! Whew...

Anyway, here's the thing. I brought my reusable totes with me, for all my purchases. How it works is, each section has a check out post. Records, check out post. Books, check out post. Christmas, check out post. Knick knacks, uh, yeah, you get it. Ok. Well, this is how they "kept theft down" (and really, if you need to steal from a flea market, that sells most things for a few bucks, well, you're just sad and pathetic, ok? Sad and pathetic. But onward...) to keep theft down they devised this ahem, great plan of wrapping each purchase in a plastic bag and sticking a sticker on it that said it was paid for, in that area. Gah. So I bought some records. And a couple cookbooks (from 1947!), and a few knick knacks, and a beautiful wooden bowl, and they were all from different departments, and are you seeing the pattern here. It was Hell people, Hell. Because we people in America just DON'T get it yet, and I had to fight tooth and nail for no plastic bags. I mean, EVERY TIME (about nine times) I had to go through my speech:

"Hello, yes I don't want a plastic bag, can you just stick the sticker on the purchased item and put it in my reusable tote." to which I would ALWAYS get "well, we'll stick the purchase in a plastic bag and then put the sticker on that bag, then put it in your bag, because that's what we have to do." Sigh... to which I would return with "well my goal is to not take one single plastic bag this year and I'm doing great at it and I'm trying to do my part to help the environment and if you could just help me out here it'd be great. They can search my bags when I leave, it's no problem. I'm not trying to be a pain." and then we'd have to hash things out along the way with weird looks and hemming and hawing and just freakin' put down the plastic bag, woman, and STEP AWAY! Finally, about the last woman I purchased from, she was uh, not happy. Like life had dealt her great unhappiness (and I swore I heard her mumbling some bitter thing to her co-worker about my bag as I walked around in her room, how "first it's one dollar, than another, and then before you know" as in I was so going to steal the world from them.) And I went up to her, and started my speech, and she wasn't going to have it, and I literally said "I'm trying to help the environment, and I'm not taking any plastic bags and blah blah blah!" Blah blah blah being an actual phrase uttered from me. I was so exhausted from the heat and the plastic bag fighting at that point. Ha ha!

But you know what, I walked out of that freakin' place with no plastic bags! But it was such work! One of my friends said to me "I'm so glad you're you, because I'm definitely not a you." which is so sad, because I feel he's more mainstream society. I was thinking this morning, if we have to wait out another generation before change is really made (as generations are so FREAKIN' stubborn to change) well, we're just doomed.

And I'm thinking of going back today to pick up a couple items I missed. But seriously, the plastic bag fighting is really making me not even want to go back. It's just too much work. (But uh, I totally will, cause I'm addicted to old Christmas and jazz records!)

Point two:

Went to see The Happening this weekend; the new M. Night Shyamalan movie. (Spoilers on: So stop reading if you want to see this movie. Oh but uh, DON'T! Really, save your money and buy a pet rock. It'll be more entertaining.) Atrocious! Horrible. Seriously, he's lost his ability to make movies, completely. I was so horribly disappointed. It was just SO BAD. Bad acting, bad camera work, bad movie (I mean, this would be a made for tv movie if it wasn't made by M. Night Shyamalan. Seriously. And a bad made for tv movie at that.) But see, it's about how plants are releasing toxic poison into the air to kill (or kill/warn) humans that we are destroying the world/environment, and we need to stop now, or face the consequences. And he had some information to back it up. And it could have been a very current events kind of movie to make, and inform others. But everyone's going to be too busy laughing at the movie to take it seriously. I just sat in the theatre going, what the Hell is with this movie? It's so bad! Sigh... I was so pissed at Mr. Shyamalan, because I think he did a big disservice to making the whole environmental issues known. No one is going to take this seriously.

Or perhaps I was just taking it a little to seriously, myself. Either way, it blew chunks.

PS - I just did a spell check on this post, and never realized how many times I type "freakin" into a post. LOL!


UPDATE This just in! Ok, so I went back yesterday evening to the flea market (eleven more records! Awesome!) and as I was walking in, I noticed something on their sign I hadn't seen the previous visit: "No shopping or tote bags" Ok, that 1) erked me; and 2) I was actually really close to just giving in. "Oh, my... maybe I should just take a plastic bag this time, I mean, it's one plastic bag. I can repent somehow." But no, I kept saying I am NOT going to do it.

So I go in, grab up my records, and head over to the woman I went to previously. Poor, poor woman. I sit my records down, and say "Can you wrap these in newspaper, instead of a plastic bag. Do you remember me, the newspaper guy?" and she says "OH yes, I remember you." and I say "I was tempted to not even come back." to which she says "BUT you did." Ha ha! So she's really very sweet, she gets the paper, says "you know the drill." as I have to hold it down for her while she tapes the newspaper together around my records. And she says "I told my husband about you last night, and he laughed." I said "He laughed at me?" To which she replied "Yes, because you wouldn't take a plastic bag."

THEN, she looks over, and says to the guy two down from me in line "Hey, this is the guy that wouldn't take the plastic bag." and I say "Is that your husband?" It was. I joke with him saying "You were making fun of me for not taking a plastic bag? I'm just trying to save the environment here!" To which she says "But you're just one person." And I look her in the eyes and say "But if I can just reach ONE person here and make them change their ways..." and she finishes my sentence "...you will have done what you needed to do." And I yell out "THANK YOU! Yes!" Then I mention that there are about nine women working there that wish I'd never come back; and she says "Don't you let them get to you." Aw! How sweet.

So again, I made it out plastic bagless. I didn't break down. In fact, I started thinking "I'm gonna DO this! I'm gonna look into if there are any petitions, or laws in the works in North Carolina concerning banning plastic bags, and make myself heard!" I looked online today a bit, and the closest NC has at the moment is a law they are wanting to pass in which every retail store 10,000 sq. feet or larger must have a plastic bag recycling box out front. WHEW, don't move too fast there North Carolina, slow down! LOL. Geesh. We shall see!