Going Green in the New Year

With the new year upon us, often individuals make New Year's resolutions, some of which are kept, but very often many are broken. It is human nature to forget about the resolutions one makes early on as the year progresses. Providing for a clean and healthy environment, however, is one New Year's resolution everyone should have, and by taking small steps toward that goal, an overall cleaner, healthier, and more environmentally friendly environment is likely to result. One resolution that all individuals can strive to achieve for a clean, healthy environment that is relatively easy to do is to replace plastic bag usage with paper bags because they are far better for the environment.

According to the Earth Resource Institute, plastic bags from an environmental standpoint are harmful because among many things they "are made from a non-renewable natural resource: Petroleum. Consequently, the manufacturing of plastic bags contributes to the diminishing availability of our natural resources and the damage to the environment from the extraction of petroleum." As if the production of plastic bags involves the use of oil-based products is not enough, even more problematic is their manufacturing process: "Most plastic bags are made from polyethelene-more commonly known as polythene-they are hazardous to manufacture and are said to take up to 1,000 years to decompose on land and 450 years in water." As such, it is very clear that plastic bags involve the use of fossil fuels--the very essence of the problems with the U.S. energy and environmental practices.

So while plastic bags are clearly harmful to the environment, they are still everywhere one looks. Out of necessity, convenience or some combination of the two, it appears many consumers are seen particularly in grocery stores and when they go out shopping in general requesting plastic as opposed to paper bags. Clearly, as seen by how plastic bags are manufactured and by the products they are made from, it is clear that plastic bags simply contribute to U.S. energy and environmental products from the use of more petroleum, which is one of many product that is causing a lot of carbon dioxide emissions here in the U.S. Consequently, to start off the new year, one simple step that can go a long way is to start demanding supermarkets and all businesses generally carry paper as opposed to plastic bags. Not only should businesses become more environmentally responsible by carrying paper bags, but you the consumer also has a responsibility to become environmentally conscious by requesting paper as opposed to plastic bags whenever you go out shopping. This will not solve all of the U.S. environmental and energy issues, but it is one step that can make a meaningful difference from being energy inefficient to being energy efficient.

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