BYOB ~ eco totes

Paper breaks down in 2-5 months in a landfill, but can you guess how long it takes for a plastic bag? One thousand years. Yes, that's 1,000 years! Those fly-away plastic bags scorned by environmentalists like me will survive long after our grandchildren's great-grandchildren have turned to dust.

Have you considered taking your own bags when you go shopping? It's all the rage now, and I have three green bags that I keep in the car just for shopping. Mine were inexpensive, but I really like the ones pictured here that cost $8 (left, above) or $7 each (right, above) I like the Milano style, with its single 2-inch strap at $7 (left).

A store that opened a couple of years ago near our bookstore charged twenty-five cents each for bags (I think it was). Other stores give back a nickel if you bring your own bag, according to this USA Today article. Americans throw away about 100 billion plastic bags annually, and that's reason enough to be concerned.

My green bags (like the one at the left) have inserts to keep the bags flat. I have never tried loading one as full as the one below because I don't know the weight limit. What I like about the ones above is their portability; they wouldn't take much space, unlike mine with the big flat inserts. Yeah, I want one of the mesh bags!

One other note: cashiers at my stores are used to filling bags brought by customers, so you won't raise any eyebrows when you show up with yours.
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BYOB = bring your own bags

The Wall ~ a book by Marlen Haushofer

Juliet at Crafty Green Poet yesterday published a review of The Wall by Marlen Haushofer:

"It is a beautifully written book and makes the reader ask lots of questions about our ability to be self sufficient, our relationship with the environment and with animals and the meaning of life."

Here's the publisher's synopsis:

"First published to acclaim in Germany, The Wall chronicles the life of the last surviving human on earth, an ordinary middle-aged woman who awakens one morning to find that everyone else has vanished. Assuming her isolation to be the result of a military experiment gone awry, she begins the terrifying work of survival and self-renewal."

I remember a "Twilight Zone" episode on television about the last man on earth. He loved to read and had found the huge public library in New York City. So he was overjoyed. Then he went outside and stumbled (?? or something) ... anyway, he managed to step on (and break) his glasses! Oh, the irony!

Anyway, The Wall sounds like something I should read, so I continued looking for references ... and found a review from Bookends. According to Wikipedia, The Wall is her only novel translated into English. I want to read this book.