Energy Saving Tip of the Week 4

I was listening to NPR today when I heard a great story about a former member of the Ukrainian Parliament who became a pop music star who sings about climate change and energy independence. So that was awesome. The next story was about plastic bags and how much we Americans use annually. Have a guess? Give up? Nine billion pounds. Nine billion pounds of plastic bags every year!?!?! It's an astounding number.

With that preface here is your energy saving tip of the week: Purchase a couple reusable canvas-type bags and take them to the store when shopping or, though not quite as good, bring old plastic bags and reuse them. If you've never done it you'll be surprised how a simple thing like this makes you feel better. Doing this saves the energy it takes to produce and dispose of plastic bags plus you'll be keeping bags out of the landfill. Another bonus is you're taking a public action that benefits the environment in a real way. You know what they say: Actions speak louder than words.

On the plastics note, take a few minutes to read this article about massive floating plastic wastelands in our oceans. How big are they? Take a read and find out, it's astonishing.