Did you BYOB the last time you went shopping?This is a question everyone should ask himself or herself.  We are midway through 2010 and there has in no way been a more crucial period of time to bring your own eco friendly reusable shopping bags. When you BYOB, instead of using single-use plastic or paper disposable bags, you immediately become a part of the answer to the enormous urban litter predicament associated with disposable shopping bag waste.  As of July 1, 2010, it is estimated that greater than 240 billion plastic bags have been consumed in 2010 alone.  What ís still even more alarming is the impact that plastic and paper throw-away bags are continuing to have on the natural environment.   The function of this article is to look at the latest news regarding large-scale efforts to decrease the use of plastic and paper disposable bags along with the subsequent waste, and discuss what options are available to each of us individual consumers in order to make certain we are a part of the answer to this dilemma.  

The excellent news is that BYOB momentum is rising quickly in 2010.  If you havenít noticed yet, the California legislature has proposed a bill; AB 1998 (to be voted on by the Senate in August), that would prohibit single-use bags offered within supermarkets, drugstores, convenience, and liquor stores and take complete effect no later than 2013.  Even ìThe Governatorî, Arnold Schwarzenegger, said that he would sign his name on the legislation if it makes it to his desk.   This would be a massive victory for all friends of the natural environment to have the most populated state, within the third largest country on the planet, to put a ban on throw-away plastic bags. Bearing in mind that China first cracked down on plastic bags in 2008 and Ireland legislative efforts to lower plastic bag consumption started in 2002, it is so amazing to hear that California legislators have introduced this bill to the table.  

In the USA, metropolitan areas from San Francisco to Los Angeles to Washington DC have approved or enacted laws that either tax customers for the consumption of plastic bags or outlaw them overall, but California would be the first US state to take action if this possible law were to pass.  Believe it or not, even legislators from the state of Texas have written possible legislation that would add a 7-cent tax for every single-use bag used.   It is so amazing that there is a chance that both Texas and California could soon have laws in place to fight the plastic bag pandemic.  Hard work by individuals and governments to cut down large-scale use of throw-away grocery bags is a good way to motivate people and spread the word concerning the overwhelmingly positive benefits of ecologically friendly reusable shopping bags.

Plastic grocery bags can take up to a thousand years to biodegrade completely, and prior to that it just breaks down in to smaller and smaller poisonous pieces that wind up inside our food, water, and soil. Biodegradable green reusable shopping bags, are a wonderful substitute, once discarded in landfill sites, the subjection to sunlight, air, and warmth will convert these bags into water, carbon dioxide, mineral salt and biomass.  Similar to a fallen leaf, it will vanish in time as well as leave Zero Dangerous Residue in the soil.  Plastic grocery bags end up in our landfills and often get tangled and bring about permanent problems in waste management machinery.   Tens of millions if not billions of additional bags end up as urban litter and frequently find their way in to ponds, large bodies of water, streams, as well as the sea.  Creatures, especially marine animals, get entwined in plastic grocery bags, and/or ingest them and regularly suffocate or starve to death.  

So the remedy takes us back to BYOB, which is rediculously easy.  Just remember to use eco friendly reusable shopping bags or recycled grocery bags, or reuse an older bag, period.  Be sure to keep spare reusable bags in your automobile or in your backpack, since you will want to ensure they are nearby once you require them.  Also remember to disinfect your bags after use, particularly after transporting raw foods and cleaning supplies.  You should also offer them to your family as a reminder to BYOB.  Of course, always remember to recycle every time the occasion presents itself, recycling is always a win-win situation for the natural environment.  Adopting a BYOB habit in our individual lifestyles and organizations is really the best way to ensure we are truly part of the solution rather than the problem.  Now is the time to go out and lead by example.