It's in the bag, baby!

Everyone knows plastic bags are wasteful and take up way too much space in our houses, but I did a little research and found some stats. According to deliciouslivingmag.com (great name, huh?):

• Plastic bags don't biodegrade - instead they slowly break into little toxic bits that contaminate our soil, water and food (oh, and it takes 1,000 years to fully decompose - what's filling up our landfills? These suckers.).
• Paper bags aren't much better because they are so bulky and take more energy (OIL) to transport
• 12 million barrels of oil are used to produce the plastic bags used in the U.S. in one year
  

But I also loathe those bulky, awkward reusable bags that "big box-mart" sells. I bought one on a guilt-trip day and it sits at home because I never remember to bring it with me when I run errands.

At our local organic grocer, I found a great solution. It's a big, nylon, reusable bag that collapses into a teeny bag that clips onto your purse (or fits nicely inside). I have mine stuffed in my purse and it's with me at all times. I use it for groceries, of course, and to round up the trash that accumulates in my car. Best of all, it was cheap ($5, I think) and I've had mine for almost a year now and it's still going strong.
I found the bag-makers website online - www.chicobag.com and have attached a pretty picture from their website.



Just for fun, I am also uploading a picture of mine.
Here is a picture of my purse & my bag
(and yes, that's really my hand...).
That sucker is tiny, isn't it?



Oh, and I also unfolded it and put it next to my purse so you could see how big it gets.
It holds probably twice as much as your average grocery store plastic bag.



Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
Now don't get me wrong, I still use those plastic suckers.
But I use fewer and fewer all the time. And the ones I do bring home, I use to line our diaper pail, bathroom trash cans, and as spare bags for dirty/wet clothes when we're out and about. And when my little plastic bag full of plastic bags is overflowing, I take it to our grocery store and let them recycle it. Now excuse me, I have to go pat myself on the back... ;)