Born Again Bag Lady

I am a born again bag lady (cloth bags, not plastic). I'll tell you why.

Today I received an email from a friend that was meant to convince everyone to use cloth bags rather than plastic when they shop. I have been using cloth bags for more than a year but still occasionally forget. I'm pretty sure that I will always remember to bring my cloth bags and recycle all plastic containers now that I've learned about how much trash is floating around in the ocean.

I'm not sure why I haven't found out about the seriousness of the situation until now. Captain Charles Moore has been trying to tell the world about it for several years. While sailing he discovered an area about 1000 miles west of San Francisco that is filled with floating trash, mainly plastic. It's been dubbed the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and is at least twice the size of Texas. All the trash seems to accumulate in that area because of the ocean currents. It washes up on shore as well. 

The New York Times has covered it. Discover Magazine has covered it. It's been on the Today Show.  It is a real problem. My cloth bags have taken on a new meaning for me. So has recycling and reusing. 

Please follow the links in this post to learn more.