100 billion plastic shopping bags

I'm all for trying to do what I can for the environment. The plastic bag issue has been another story though, even when I have so many in my pantry that they're taking over. I have a large pantry so maybe that will give you an idea of how many there really are.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually. (Estimated cost to retailers is $4 billion)

That number blew my mind. I knew it was a lot but I guess putting an actual number to it makes a bigger impression.

I reuse plastic bags as much as possible for trash bags, lunch bags, etc. It started to bother me though that the bags are only getting reused one time and then they're getting tossed. How much did that really help to reuse it one time? I guess it did give some benefit but I couldn't help but feel it was time for me to do more.

So, I started buying one or two of the reusable shopping bags at WalMart, CVS and Walgreens. Last week Walgreens had a great sale on them. You got 3 for $.88. That is awesome considering they are normally $1.00 EACH. Due to that sale, I have gathered up somewhere close to 10 and I figure that's a fairly good amount. It may not cover all of our groceries when we go on our weekly shopping trip, but it will cover most of them. It will also help out on those quick stops to the store for something that we forgot.

If you haven't gotten a reusable shopping bag you can go to green4better.com and sign up for a free one. Give it a shot and let me know how you felt about using the reusable bags. Or if you already have used them, leave a comment and let me know about your experience.