Plastic bag

Thirty Day Plastic Bag Challenge Update

Halfway to the Finish Line

I’m more than halfway through with my 30 Day Plastic Bag Challenge. Since September 1, 2010, I have used my reusable tote bags while shopping (as I always try to do), and have skipped at least 34 plastic shopping bags. That’s pretty cool! Imagine if everyone were to ditch the plastic – that’s a pretty significant environmental impact over time.

[caption id="attachment_4495" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Six reususable tote bags used for all those groceries - pretty cool!

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What about you? Do you skip the plastic bags when shopping? Feel free to leave a comment and let us know what you think.

Plastic Bag Challenge Update

Off to A Good Start…

Well gang, it’s the sixth day of my self-imposed thirty day plastic bag challenge, and so far with three small shopping trips under my belt, I’ve managed to forgo a total of at least eleven plastic shopping bags. I’m pretty stoked about that, considering we really haven’t done our usual amount of shopping for the beginning of the month.

Think about it – if ten families skipped just ten bags per month, that equals a whopping 100 plastic bags saved from polluting the environment. Wishful thinking? Maybe, but a girl can dream…

Won’t you take the challenge too? Feel free to let us know your thoughts, and a tweet about the 30 day challenge would be much appreciated too. Thanks!

Plastic Bags Must Die!

: Image via Wikipedia

In a perfect world there would be no hunger, no homelessness, no wars, and absolutely NO plastic shopping bags!

Plastic bags are everywhere. You can’t get away from plastic bags no matter how hard you try. Sure, you take your reusable shopping bags to the store with you, but sometimes you forget them in the car and don’t feel well enough to hoof it back outside to retrieve them. Then there are times when you simply didn’t take enough of them to the store with you in the first place, and you’re left feeling like a jerk because you’ll have to leave the store with those darn plastic bags after all.

I live in California where we have a serious bag problem, and a proposed bill (AB 1998) to help reduce plastic bag pollution. I’m all for the bill’s passage. I’m also the kind of girl who will chase down plastic bags in parking lots and on sidewalks – I hate the idea that a loose bag may end up in the stomach of some poor unsuspecting animal, or worse.

I’ve also been known to turn those unwanted plastic shopping bags into a recycled, reusable shopping tote (at least try to, anyway).

Here’s a short video that I discovered on enviromom.com, entitled The Majestic Plastic Bag – A Mockumentary. Give it a look – it’s sad with a little humor mixed in.

What about you? Do you take reusable bags when you go shopping? What do you do with your plastic shopping bags? Feel free to leave a comment and let us know where you stand.

30 Things I Vow to Do This Summer…

Wildflowers

Here’s another thought provoking writing prompt from Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop.

Thirty things I vow to do this summer…hmmm…I’m never one to vow to do anything. I believe it’s all in the hands of God, so with that being said, here’s a list of thirty things I hope to accomplish this summer, God Willing:

Learn to just “go with it”. I’m a worrier and a perfectionist, and most of the time that seems to get in the way of living life.
Get back into the swing of writing well, and writing often. It’s been so ling since I’ve written with some semblance of a routine. I love to write, and just need to do it often so I can improve.
Finish crocheting my plarn (plastic yarn) shopping tote. You can read my DIY Friday! post on how to make your own recycled plastic bag tote here.
Learn to crochet using real yarn.
Organize the house.
Visit my parents more often.
Go hiking.
Have a picnic with my family.
Garden more.
Start working out regularly again.
Finish painting my bathroom.
Permanently fix the sound on my laptop – big sigh!
Learn how to properly fix the few errors I have with the Google site map submission for my other blog, Green Earth Bazaar. It’s driving me nuts!
Make my own body butter.
Learn to ride a bicycle. Ha! – got you there. Just wanted to see if you were paying attention. It’s been so long though, I may have forgotten.
Make some beeswax candles. I love candle light, it’s so relaxing.
Start making my own bread (yeast breads) from scratch again.
Read my way through some of the many books I have stashed away in nearly every corner of my bedroom.
Get outside more often.
Build something. What I’m not really sure, maybe a table or bench – something I can use outside.
Do something good for a charity or a cause.
Be more social.
Finally dust off the light fixtures in the ceiling. I can’t remember when I did it last…shame on me.
Make more time to pamper myself. Yeah, I’m worth it.
Learn to be more patient. No wonder it’s a virtue, huh?
Try not to cringe (that much) when a certain someone’s mother shows up without phoning (again), and try to hold my tongue (and not explode from doing so) when that someone says something crummy and insensitive like that certain someone always seems to do. You know what I’m talking about my fellow married sistahs.
Eat more chocolate. A girl can dream can’t she?
Fix my sewing machine…and use it.
Cook up some homemade nectar for our humming bird feeder. I love watching our humming birds, they’re amazing.
Reinvent the wheel. Nah, just kidding. I think the wheel’s just fine the way it is.

Peace.

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