Save a sea turtle today, reuse plastic bags

Star Beacon

May 04, 2008 08:16 pm

— In the end, it is all about the sea turtles.
Being a world-class insomniac, I see a lot of late-late-night programming. At about 3:30 a.m. several years ago, somewhere in between infomercials for ab-loungers, ab-rockers and ab-rollers, I saw something that haunts me to this day.
A team of specialists was racing to the shore to save a beached sea turtle. The crew jumped out of their trucks and, with sand spraying everywhere, approached a very bloated dead sea turtle. The huge animal had several plastic grocery bags wrapped around its neck, and it was long gone to the big sea in the sky by the time the khaki-clothed rescuers came to call.
Shaking their heads in disappointment, the would-be rescuers lamented the use of the thin filmy plastic bags and spouted off some statistics about landfills and wildlife.
I rolled over to go to sleep, but I kept thinking about that sea turtle.
Of course, the answer to the plight of the sea turtles is simple: just stop using plastic grocery bags, carry the cloth bags with you and be a responsible planet Earth inhabitant.
As a very busy working mom, I struggle someplace between needing to get my groceries to the car and out again with a screaming or running toddler in tow and the guilt of knowing that the bags for my convenience, are killing sea turtles and a lot of other critters.
I decided to take the middle road with this guilt and build on it. First, I decided to try to reuse every single plastic bag that comes my way. If I reuse each bag at least one more time, the world will be a happier place for sea turtles. The plan isn’t without its problems. First of all, we can’t possibly re-use every single bag because there are just far too many of them. Soon, we were storing bags of bags in the cabinet, in the attic and in the basement.
I began to research alternatives, and here is what I found:
n Some grocery stores have bag recycling bins. Wal-Mart and Giant Eagle offer these bins for all plastic bags;
n Salvation Army and Goodwill stores don’t use new bags, so they always need plastic bags at their stores;
n Flea markets and farmers markets often need bags; and
n Aldi’s grocery store doesn’t stock new bags, so anyone is able to drop off bags for re-use at Aldi’s.
So my plan for world domination, I mean for the re-use of plastic bags, was well on its way. I felt better about instituting this home-grown planet-friendly decree in our household. I too, can save the sea turtles, and I don’t even have to wear khaki.
That’s when I found “The Green Book” by Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas Kostigen. The Green Book makes me feel like a visionary, a sea turtle-saving pioneer because it backs up everything I feel with facts about greener ways of life.
For instance, “Did you know U.S. households dispose of nearly 100 billion plastic bags annually and millions of bags litter the environment and harm marine animals?” the Green Book asks.
“When one ton of plastic bags is reused, the energy equivalent of 11 barrels of oil is saved. Reuse 1 ton of paper bags and save up to 17 trees,” according to “The Green Book.”
“By reducing plastic-bag consumption by two bags per week, you’ll throw away 100 fewer bags per year,” according to The Green Book.
Now, take it a step further and use two fewer bags per week, re-use each bag at least one more time, and then recycle the bags.
I know it can be hard to get motivated, but Earth Day, which was last week, is a great time to start. Remember, it doesn’t have to be Earth Day to save a sea turtle. You can start today or tomorrow. You can do it on your own terms. Do you feel guilty about all the things you didn’t recycle or re-use? Let the guilt go. This isn’t about what you could have or should have done; it is about what you can do today. And you don’t even have to wear khaki.
Come on, save a turtle with me.
Page is a staff writer covering the Geneva area.

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