An' I thought it was only "US" idiots that where plagued by such things.

[Geo55]

"I am urging the public (and manufacturers) not to use plastic bags that are so thin they tear almost immediately, or are used once and then thrown away. These bags clog waste dumps and blight the landscape in Kenya and other countries. They also provide good breeding grounds for malaria-carrying mosquitoes.

If we did not use these bags, and instead carried our shopping in more long-lasting and environmentally friendly containers, we could revitalize traditional industries like basket and cloth weaving."
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0422-30.htm


Wangari Maathai, the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, is Kenya's deputy minister for environment, a member of parliament for the Tetu constituency, and founder of the Green Belt Movement.

[MrModerate]

1. I have never been in a country . . .

. . . and I've been in 20-odd over the last decade or so . . . where grocery bags don't clutter the landscape wherever you look.

It's a planetary blight.

[Geo55]

3. It's getting so they hide the paper bags

under the counter at the local super-duper market , so you have to make a point of it. Not even the ol' "paper or plastic" anymore...
more like....ooooh you want paper?.

[dcfirefighter]

2. I read something the other day

where the African shopping bags are particularly thin and useless.
BUT, the plastic bags we use actually use less oil than the paper bags they replaced.

Go buy a canvas bag, or better yet, hemp, it'll last longer.

[Geo55]

4. How so ?

"BUT, the plastic bags we use actually use less oil than the paper bags they replaced."

[The Icon Painter]

5. Already on Board

I have been carrying my own fabric bags to grocery and other stores for years now. Now only are they ecologically proper but they are easier to carry and don't tear. The mesh type are particularly nice since they can be washed readily and stretch to accommodate what is put in them.

When asked "Paper or plastic?" I just say "Neither. I brought my own." It is a good feeling. ;)

[rodeodance]

6. the fabric bags were once in vogue but i seldom see people using

them now. But hopefulling this article will bring back the fad and make it a nenewed habid. We Can do something for our enviroment. It is sometimes the little things that count the most.

[Demeter]

7. Tell It To The NYTimes!

Their distributer buys plastic bags so thin that double bagging is a necessity to keep the paper inside.