Bag It!

In the 2010 movie "Bag It" by Jeb Berrier, the use of plastic in our everyday lives is examined and broken down, until it is suddenly apparent that life as we know it would change if plastic was taken out of this world all together.  How did we get here? It is really so much easier to use plastics than to use reusable materials for carrying and packaging? Did our grandparents and great grandparents really suffer for lack of plastic? This movie has opened my eyes to not only plastic bags use and disposal, but also to hidden chemicals in canned food, hair shampoo, children's toys, and even rubber bands, until I am sitting here typing this while suspiciously eyeballing the bottle of hand lotion that is sitting on my desk. Listed below are some things that I took away from watching this movie, all the while realizing that I was sipping water from a plastic cup, knowing that water was delivered to that cup through PVC pipes. The pen I used to take notes is made of plastic, the keyboard I am using to transcribe and summarize my notes is made of plastic. The thumb drive I had saved the movie "Bag It" to is made of plastic. Eventually, after I finish this blog, I am going to relax for a while. I will grab a plastic-lined beer can from my plastic refrigerator, sit on my synthetic-fiber (plastic) couch, grab the plastic remote, turn on the plastic TV set, and watch a plastic DVD in my plastic DVD player. What's happened here?

• The U.S. uses 100,000,000 plastic bags per year
• They clog storm drains, increasing floods
• Ireland charges $0.22 per plastic bag in grocery stores
• Plastic bags are the most pervasive form of ocean litter
• There is a "plastic bag lobby" in California that prohibits fees or bans on plastic bags
• The American Chemistry Council protects the interests of plastics and chemicals
• 300 million coffee "to go" cups are used every day
• There is 800 lbs of packaging waste per year
• It takes 17 million barrels of oil per year to make plastic bottles
• There is no regulation on the "recycling" symbol

• There was 260 million tons of plastic produced per year, as of the year 2000
• There are 125,000 chemicals used around the globe, with not many tested for effects on human health
• BPA= synthetic estrogen, is used in everything, it seems, including linings in canned foods, baby bottles, and BEER CANS! OH NO!
• The word "fragrance" on common toiletry bottles is used in place of the name of a chemical that can cause a variety of birth defects, cancers, gender issues, and other health concerns
• Companies constantly claim that the products are safe for human use and consumption, despite mounting evidence that they are not
• Most importantly: THE FDA ALLOWS THIS TO GO ON.

In the future....

I will be much more conscientious about my purchases, and reconsider if my needs are really "needs", instead of wants.

I will buy less products in packaging. Not only plastic packaging, but any packaging at all.

I will simplify my life. This goal is already in the works, for we have plans to distance ourselves from the "culture of consumption" in the next couple of years, and attempt to live an environmentally unobtrusive, cheaper, simpler lifestyle to prove to ourselves and others that it can be done without compromising comfort or happiness. That it just takes a reorganization of priorities, necessities, and personal efforts to achieve piece of mind and a healthy future.

Now that I've finished, I am going to pickup a used book and go lean against a tree to read it.