I felt so good leaving the HEB without a cart full of plastic bags shimmying in the wind. I remember the days when one or two items went into a thin, already shredding plastic bag, haphazardly tossed onto the mounting pile of carcinogenic grocery movers, handles blowing around like used party streamers.
I have heard the static over Austin's plastic bag ban. I know that it is inconvenient and smacks of 1984 and Big Brother and all that, but gosh it sure felt good to be part of the solution. And as I walked in the safety of the yellow crosswalk lines, and glanced into the parking lot, there were no air-filled, balloon like, plastic tumbleweeds that needed chasing down and stomping on to prevent them from heading toward the nearest aquifer recharge zone. What a stress reliever!
And that's when you say, "Ahh, but you must be good at remembering to bring your reusable bags." Anyone who knows me, knows I am not good at remembering anything; and especially lacking in the planning ahead department, so no, no, I did not have my reusable bags. I had a cart full of melting ice cream and frozen pizza, helplessly defrosting in the open, 104 degree temps of Central Texas and I still felt good knowing I wasn't part of the problem for one moment in time.
When I first heard about the plastic island out there in the Pacific Ocean I was paralyzed by grief, and then I was mobilized to action. I helped my local elementary school collect plastic caps (until the city began accepting those with single stream recycling), I picked up every piece of plastic trash within a 30 foot radius of wherever I was, all the time! I organized an Earth Day Fair for the kids at school-and still felt guilt and sadness over the state of our oceans.
And that's when you say, "Ahh, but you must be good at remembering to bring your reusable bags." Anyone who knows me, knows I am not good at remembering anything; and especially lacking in the planning ahead department, so no, no, I did not have my reusable bags. I had a cart full of melting ice cream and frozen pizza, helplessly defrosting in the open, 104 degree temps of Central Texas and I still felt good knowing I wasn't part of the problem for one moment in time.
When I first heard about the plastic island out there in the Pacific Ocean I was paralyzed by grief, and then I was mobilized to action. I helped my local elementary school collect plastic caps (until the city began accepting those with single stream recycling), I picked up every piece of plastic trash within a 30 foot radius of wherever I was, all the time! I organized an Earth Day Fair for the kids at school-and still felt guilt and sadness over the state of our oceans.
These days, I have settled into a nice middle ground, I do what I can. Should I be doing more? Probably. I try to carpool as often as possible, I recycle my household items dutifully, and I refuse to water my lawn. But yes, I did need that mandate from the Austin City Council to disallow me from taking plastic bags by the pounds home with me ever year. Sometimes the guilt just isn't enough. I despise big brothers telling little sisters what to do. I hate it! But I love a cleaner planet more.
