Free Oil for February

Well not exactly free oil but with some change we could save as much oil as the United States uses in all of the month of February, excluding leap year of course. As many of you know plastic shopping bags have proliferated our society as a whole, worldwide. While these bags do offer convenience and low cost not only to the customer but the store as well, not to mention free advertisement the store gets, they take a high toll on our environment. Often times you will find these bags littering our streets, waterways, oceans and parks. While steps have been taken to try to recycle the bags, which are costly and difficult, it has made very little impact on the 4 to 5 trillion bags produced each year, worldwide, at a cost of 40 billion gallons of oil per year to produce. With the United States consuming around 20 million barrels of oil a day the oil savings alone would equate to about 24 days worth of oil for the US. That’s almost the whole month of February. Many arguments are made for the multiple uses of them, the low cost of use and how small a space these bags actually take in the landfill. It’s a good thing they take a small space because it takes an unbelievable average of 300 years to photo –degrade and during the breakdown process toxic chemicals are released that contaminates the soil and watershed. The bags also have the potential to break into small pieces which are easily consumed by not only wild life and live stock, easily entering the food chain, but by small children as well. They float around our oceans killing off thousands of whales, turtles and other sea life every year around the world. We can all do our part and help reduce the environmental impact of these bags. By simply shopping with re-useable cotton bags you can make a difference. These fashionable cotton bags are biodegradable, washable, have multiple uses and are a great conversation starter. “You must be the change you want to see in the world” Ghandi