Consider the ubiquitous grocery bag: Light in weight yet capable of handling hefty items. Cheap to produce. Given away virtually for free. Shoppers practically consider it a birthright to be queried, "Paper or plastic?" Yet production of the bags consumes natural resources. The bags frequently end up as litter, which has to be cleaned up. The plastic varieties are difficult for garbage haulers, recyclers and landfill operators to handle. And all of that costs money. [more]
At my local Kroger-owned QFC, they don't even ask you if you'd like plastic or paper about the half the time, and then when they do ask you, they never say, "Paper or plastic?" They say, "Is plastic OK?" No, paper please. I always thought paper was nominally better than plastic, and it seems by this article that it is. Alas, I should go back to carrying my old bike messenger bag around (from when I was actually a bike messenger) and putting the stuff in that.
Of course, this topic seems a bit irrelevant, but going back to the recent buyblue.org link, I have been thinking lately that if protesting in the streets doesn't do anything, and voting doesn't do anything (see Ohio, Diebold, Kenneth Blackwell the wannabe Katherine Harris, et al.), then I guess the only thing conscientous people in America can do these days is be more careful about where their money goes. Money--not democracy--is the only thing that affects Bush and his supporters (including Amazon.com, Home Depot, Taco Bell, etc.). Turn your back on Bush--and turn your back on them!
But keeping it all straight would take some research . . . I had previously thought of a device that would scan barcodes in stores to tell you where the product was made, if it was made with slave labor, etc. And then I saw someone else have the very same idea in Adbusters. You could call it the "SmartShopper" . . . and perhaps you could make it an add-on somehow to your iPod . . . both of which would make, of course, fashionable accessories to your bike messenger bag . . .
Post a Comment