Paper or plastic.

In Wisconsin, growing up I heard this statement quite often while waiting at my mom’s side at the grocery store. Forget about department stores, you were always given a plastic bag. There didn’t seem to be another option for toting your belongings around unless you were lucky enough to have a bag with you. My mom always carried several canvas bags as long as I can remember. But, what is the problem here? We know that plastic is flooding our earth;  it cannot be denied at this point. We see plastic bags tumbling down the street, stuck in a gutter or tree, floating in our waterways, it is around us all the time. We understand that plastic bags are there for a reason: to carry our items until we get home, to get shoved into another plastic bag, to be used as a liner for our garbage, and then to be thrown out. Right.

Right? 

I think this is wrong. We have many options available to us as consumers to carry our goods from point A to point B. Options that are sustainable; such as, reusable bags, paper bags, compostable bags, cardboard boxes, and much more. These mediums are simple and inexpensive ways to say no to single use, plastic bags and say yes to a better world. Yes, a better world. While a large portion of plastic and landfills ends up in the ocean, these plastic bags stay in our world due to the nature of the plastic they are made from: light and thin. This plastic easily clogs the sorting machines at recycling plants, they effortlessly float away into the air, they drop into our lakes and rivers, and potentially break down finding their way inside the bellies of wildlife; ultimately, killing them. According to experts, the lifespan of plastic is anywhere from 450 years until never. Yes, never. There is no end date for plastic. The world changed when plastic was invented and now we are paying for it. 

Reusing plastic bags is a start. Return clean bags to the store you found them, drop them in a box for collection, or keep them as a garbage receptacle. This is what we know to do. But what if we stop the problem before it starts? Will you join me in this movement to stop the production of single use, plastic bags? Let’s start here, together. Future generations will thank you and me for our bravery and care today.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

Concerned Citizen