I’m
continuing to consider the theme of “do no harm”
during this Lenten season. So many resolutions to “do
no harm” have really awful unintended consequences
that I’ve finding this a particularly prickly path.
However, I, along with a lot of others, may be on to something
that really “does no harm” and does much good.
There
are two items ubiquitous to modern American life that
are coming under increasing scrutiny as really nasty for
the environment: plastic water bottles and plastic shopping
bags—the kinds we get at grocery stores, convenience
stores and just about every other place where we purchase
routine items.
Of
course, most people know now that this bottled water phase
has been one of the bigger hoaxes foisted on the American
public. Bottled water is at best no more pure than tap
water, and sometimes less pure. And tons more expensive.
Nonetheless, those bottles are convenient when needing
a drink of water away from home and to keep in the car—so
whenver possible, just buy one bottle periodically and
keep it refilled. That will solve a lot of that ecological
mess.
Now,
for plastic bags: Personally, I try to keep them and reuse
them as much as possible, but there really is no way to
re-use all of them. Even with a small household, I can
easily get up to 10 or more of these a week. I can’t
imagine how many bags a house with a lot of children and
many groceries to buy might accumulate in just a few weeks.
Certainly, they can be recycled, and that’s a good
idea. But, having my conscience pricked by reading too
many “green” magazines, I decided I’d
try the permanent tote bag routine.
I
know that in many parts of the world, people routinely
carry around with them either string bags or tote bags
of some sort in which to place last minute purchases.
It’s time for us to copy that habit and start carrying
our own. I’ve been doing this for two weeks now.
I’m still not in the habit—I tend to empty
the bags and then forget to return them to the car. And
the grocery checkers have also got to change their habits
and learn to use them when they are presented to them.
But I have started.
There
are several questions I’ve yet answered. Here’s
the first: I purchased a couple of inexpensive ones at
a grocery store and those bags, roomy, with flat bottoms,
are emblazed with the name of that particular store. Now,
what do I do if I want to shop at a different store but
have only the bags emblazed with the name of a competitor?
Does this mean I need to purchase different tote bags
for each store where I shop? Do I need to keep a collection
of bags in my car to use at different places? Am I going
to hurt someone’s feelings if I use the wrong tote
bag at a particular store?
Also,
what does it say about me if I insist on using “cheap”
totebags instead of designer ones? According to one fashion
maven, “No other fashion accessory matches a woman’s
need better than a beautiful designer tote bag. When your
suitcase is too large or your purse is too small, a designer
tote bag always makes the right choice.” Oh dear—what
if I’ve made the wrong choice? What if I’m
too cheap to buy the “right” bag (actually,
this is not a “what if I’m too cheap”
it is a “I’m very much too cheap!”).
Oh
well, enough of the unanswerable questions, and back to
the subject at hand. I’ve got an idea. Why don’t
we see if the Krum community can become a “plastic
bag-free” town? This could be a fun challenge for
us as a community. Think about it: Let’s suppose
for a moment that the average person gets five of those
bags a week (and that’s got to be a low guess).
With around 4000 people in the nearby community, that
number balloons to 80,000 plastic bags a month! Eighty
thousand bags that wouldn’t go to landfills or fly
along the highway or get caught in trees or bushes. Did
you know these bags never decompose? They eventually break
down in the smaller and smaller parts, but they end up
being ingested and ultimately becoming part of the food
cycle. Definitely not healthy for any living creature.
This
could make not only a great Lenten discipline but a new
and healthy habit for the rest of our lives. Caring for
God’s creation can only bring pleasure to the Creator,
and that sounds good to me.
