As I have mentioned, I have been getting a tremendous amount of emails that contain ideas, pictures and videos for the blog. This posting is no different. Thanks PS for sending me a PowerPoint presentation that opened up my eyes on a subject I knew very little about. I truly hope you take three minutes and watch this interesting, thought-provoking and appropriate presentation.
- What were your thoughts as you were watching the presentation?
- Do you think it will change your life?
- What was the most surprising thing you learned?
This has had a dramatic impact on my life. I hope it did the same for you.
P.S. Usually I give my opinion and thoughts but this time I decided against doing that not to give away the video.
Robert Harrell says:
I hope we ban plastic bags soon. My wife and I started using the cloth several monthis ago, and they are actually easier to carry.
Stephenie Gordon says:
We do a lot of shopping at the office, so on Earth Day we decided to change over to cloth bags. it’s been amazing! I agree with Robert, they are easier to carry and we have less waste.
I need to do the same at home. I am going to make a serious effort starting TODAY.
Jennifer Stocks says:
I actually took a canvas bag to the grocery store this morning. I had been thinking about doing this for a while, but today was the first time I actually did it. Now I am so glad I did. Obviously, I knew using plastic bags was wasteful, but I had no idea how harmful they were. This was very eye opening. I have lots of canvas bags just sitting in my closet. They are now going into the trunk of my car so I will always have them handy.
Peggy Moore says:
Very interesting video. I did see a program last year about the damage plastic bags can do. I did go out and buy five cloth bags, BUT when I go into the store I FORGET to take them with me. I will try to get use to using them now that I watched that video.
Angela Franco says:
Since our entire office staff is green conscious, our company has supported this initiative by giving out eco-friendly, reusable shopping bags instead of plastic ones. Next we are moving toward a paperless office. Every little bit helps and we are trying to do our part to preserve and improve the environment.
Kenyon says:
I switched over to cloth bags several weeks ago. Wish I did it sooner. Certainly reusing cloth bags is the right thing to do. The Plastic bag PP Pres was very impactful and yet I wonder how many trees and subsequent damage is done by creating and/or trying to recycle paper bags? Sure there’s big problems with that too. Thanks for sharing. One of your best topics yet!
Suzanne says:
Merrill, Thanks for doing this. While what the video is said is not news to me, it’s important to spread this message. It’s not just bags that we need to watch, it’s all resources. First, if every driver in the country drove one mile less per day, we would save about 10,000,000 gallons of gas per day. Think of all the people who know they’re going to Starbuck’s and don’t bring their own cup. What’s the cost in energy and materials to produce the cups, ship them and take them to the landfill. My guess is we’re going through something like 100,000,000 cups per day we don’t have to.
I go crazy when I see someone buy a pack of gum, take a bag and throw it in the trash on the way out of the store. Why are Americans on the back side of the curve with the environment? Little steps can make a big difference.
Merrill Dubrow says:
Suzanne,
Your point is so true. LITTLE STEPS CAN MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE!
Thanks.
Merrill
Krista Joyce says:
HOLY COW – This is a serious eye opener! I was very naive to this problem until I watched this….
My feelings watching this video were of guilt for contributing to the problem and then instantly thinking about how many cloth bags do I already have and do I have enough to cover all of my groceries tonight???
One good thing we’ve done at work is that we now have our entire team work remotely from home on Tuesdays & Thursdays to save on economic impact and to be environmentally friendly – that sure makes me feel better but there is always more I can do. I agree with Suzanne – little steps can make a big difference (taping that saying on the fridge)!
~Krista
Ruthann Chesnoff says:
With all the problems that face this country I certainly think its the very least we could do. I hope our legislators ban plastic in this country.
Laurie says:
After seeing this video I will no longer use plastic bags. I have the reusable bags from a variety of stores and try and use them every time I go grocery shopping. They are functional, very strong and worth the upfront investment. The ones made for frozen food are great, items stay cold for a long time.
The challenge for me is department store shopping, I am going to work on that beginning today!
Merrill Dubrow says:
Laurie,
Thats a great commitment. When I posted the video I was hoping it would impact a few people – clearly you are one of them.
Good luck on your department store challenge!
Thanks for your comments.
Merrill
mark sutin says:
Very compelling. My family had turned green several years ago, and we actually do not use plastic in our house
The sad part is, what type of earth are we leaving our children’s children
Lydia Player says:
I had been thinking of getting cloth bags as a client give-away item. This video just pushed me to the decision to do it.
Thanks
Merrill Dubrow says:
Lydia,
I am so glad this video helped you make your decision.
Enjoy the weekend.
Merrill
Heather says:
Although many New Yorker’s find Bloomberg’s policies somewhat invasive on personal choice and say they often hurt small businesses, I was very excited when the following happened here:
Effective July 23, 2008, New York City’s Plastic Carryout Bag Recycling Law (Local Law 1 of 2008) requires NYC stores that provide plastic carryout bags (with the exception of small non-chain stores or restaurants) to accept plastic bags for recycling. New York City stores that are either chain stores (more than 5 locations in the city) or are over 5,000 square feet and provide plastic carryout bags must accept all plastic bags, such as plastic carryout bags (shopping bags), newspaper bags, and dry cleaning bags, for recycling, during normal business hours, no purchase necessary. Restaurants are exempt from the law. Stores must set up a clearly marked collection bin in a visible location within the store to accept plastic bags. Stores are also required to sell reusable bags.