Blog Entry 40 of 51
The Lakewood Lowdown
Hi, I'm Erin Feese, a community journalist here at YourHub.com.
As journalists, we are always seeking to uncover the newsy, the exciting, the weird and the heartwarming stories going on around us. The greatest part of YourHub.com is that you can be the one to tell your story. In this blog you'll find highlights of the Lakewood and Edgewater sites, as well as the musings of your friendly neighborhood journalist. So go ahead, uncover what's going on around you, and don't be afraid to share what you find.
Why I'm a bag lady
Contributed by:
Erin Feese/YourHub.com
on 1/16/2008
My co-worker,
Brit Horvat, who covers the Boulder area for
YourHub.com, has just launched a new project called CU Grad Gab. Basically, it features the creative musings of women who have graduated CU-Boulder. Well, since I happen to be a CU alum, Brit has graciously invited me to participate. I plan to offer tips for making your life a little bit greener. You can meet all the lovely ladies by clicking
here.
To read the latest installment, click
here. I've also included my entry below.
I used to not think twice about plastic grocery bags. You went to the store, grabbed your food, chose paper or plastic and were on your way. When I started living in Boulder during college and started shopping at the Wild Oats, I noticed how they encouraged you to bring your own bag. For each bag, they give you 5 cents to donate to charity. "Cool!" I thought, so I tried to reuse a paper bag whenever I remembered.
Until recently, however, I haven't made an effort to bring my own shopping bag on all grocery trips, but it's something I am trying to do more and more. (If you're like me, bags just pile up under the sink and behind my dresser at home.) According to
www.onebagatatime.com, plastic bags, like all plastics, are made from petroleum, a non-renewable resource - and one we rely on to drive our cars! The amount of petroleum in 14 plastic bags could drive a car one mile.
Paper bags aren't much better, as they don't break down in landfills. The
US EPA says 70 percent more global warming gasses are emitted making a paper bag than a plastic bag, and 50 times more water pollution. However, paper bags can be recycled, which is a bonus over plastic.
Last week I picked up a stylin' reusable bag from
Whole Foods Belmar for just a buck. It holds a ton of food and if it rips, they will replace it for free. One bag at a time has a collection of 10 bags for $15.99 (although shopping for just me, two or three cloth bags is plenty). And I found out the other day that Safeway, similar to Whole Foods and Wild Oats, offers a bag credit of 5 cents for each bag you bring. The guy even gave me extra credits because mine from Whole Foods was so big!
If you use your own bag two times a week for two years, you'll save:
- 832 plastic bags
- Enough petroleum to drive 60 miles
- 11 pounds of garbage
- $140 city dollars in disposal costs
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