I’m standing in line at the grocery store, loading my boxes of cereal onto the conveyor belt, and I hear the checker ask the customer in front of me that now famous question: “Paper or plastic?”   We all know by now that what they’re really asking us is: “Do you want a paper bag made from some glorious tree that had to be cut down? Or do you want a plastic bag that will sit in a landfill for years without biodegrading?”   Hmmmm, the guilt gets me every time!  I do my best to recycle, Brian uses the plastic bags for his lunches, and we use the paper bags for taking our trash and carting stuff around.  But when I heard the customer in front of me answer: “I’ll have paper in plastic, please,” I realized that I was not doing enough to save our environment!  To get two bags when you really just need one is absurd, and that’s my editorial opinion!

I have heard that grocery stores are seriously considering charging a 15 cent fee for every bag we use for our groceries.  This could really add up quickly for moms like me who go to the grocery store a couple of times a week at least.  But I think it’s a really good idea.  Money talks, and if we are being charged for our bags, we will be much more likely to bring them from home!  And even better, it’s an incentive for us to use canvas bags.  Think of how many trees we’d save in a year just by doing that.  That’s my new resolution,  I’m going to take my “Om sweet Om” and my “Volleyball Mom”tote bags that I got from the coffeyshop and keep them in the car so that they are there every time I go to the market!  I’ll be making a fashion statement, and lugging my groceries in environmentally friendly style!

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Lissa Coffey is an author, media personality, and the founder of CoffeyTalk.com (Reprinted with permission Copyright © Bamboo Entertainment, Inc.)