Earth Bags

We all now know that we should always take our earth bags with us to the grocery instead of the plastic bags provided at stores. Plastic bags were always a matter of cost savings for stores. Just as plastic soda bottles are a much inferior substitute to glass bottles, plastic bags much inferior substitute for paper bags. They hold less groceries and they cut into your hand when you are trying to carry them. They really are only good for moving the groceries from you cart to you car and then from you car to you kitchen pantry. If you have to walk home with your groceries or lug them on the bus God help you.

But the biggest rap against plastic bags is that they are an incredible nuisance. They are practically weightless and virtually frictionless. They strangle wildlife and have even been accused of choking whales. The response has not been swift but it has been growing in its intensity. Several localities have taken to outlawing the bags outright or taxing them.

Yes plastic shopping bags are one of the evils that have plagued my generation. But they are not in the category of nuclear weapons or polio. In the end the use of plastic bag will fade into memory but the actual plastic bags will be around for much much longer.

So the obvious Best Thing is to use your earth bag or to recycle the plastic bags.

But what if you are stuck without your earth bags and you are not near a recycling receptacle?

What is The Next Best Thing?

Fill the plastic bag with trash and then throw it an a refuse bin. The biggest problem about plastic bags is not that they will last basically forever. This is true of basically all petroleum based plastics. The problem with plastic bags is their tendency to leave the waste disposal system and flutter around the world at large. By weighting the plastic bag down by putting something inside it you greatly increase the chances that it will find its way to landfill where it will probably be mined by our petroleum bereft progeny.

Go Ahead, Go Hollywood

We are strange lot indeed. We come ready made with the ability to produce sexy odors. But instead of just letting these attract mates who are attracted to our very essence, we go through great elaborate means to wash off these scents, suppress them, and mask them. Then often as not we splash on the urine of some other animal, presumably to attract mates who are into bestiality.

While these odd little rituals have in the bast been mainly the moment for anthropological parody, these little rituals have become a serious drain on the worlds resources. Even before the prospect of global warming, potable water has been one of most precious and scarce resources in the world. While everyone knows that oil is at the heart of many of the worlds conflicts, a lesser known fact that access to water is just as great a source of conflict and is sure to increase as weather changes make water supplies more erratic and pollution contaminate more water.

While these conflicts have not to large scale violence in the United States it has been source of serious conflict with both Canada and Mexico. Domestically water conflicts between city dwellers and farmers and amongst various states are becoming more and more bitter. Our endless thirst for water is draining from wild life areas, emptying aquifers can invite salt water intrusion which ruins farmland and sink holes which swallow cars and even whole houses. Water is also getting more and more expensive even here and will continue to do so. But for Americans it will be some time before the water from the tap costs what we foolishly waste on the bottled stuff.

Saving water is a simple way to save wildlife, prevent conflict and save money. One of the most wasteful water practices is the daily ablutions society demands of us Best Practice has been devised by the Navy which in storied irony floats on water but suffers from its extreme scarcity. The regulation wash includes one small burst of water, followed by soaping up and washing up, and then concluded with a final brief burst to rinse the soap off. The traditional American shower is referred to in the Navy is referred as "Going Hollywood."

But what if you want Calgon to take you away? The Next Best Thing is to simply save the water that you use. Suddenly instead of watching your moments of luxury slide down the drain you are harvesting grey gold. Through the magick of soap it is possible to use slightly dirty water for cleaning. You can use your bath water, or the shower water you catch by running the shower with drain stopped to mop the floor, wash the car, wash the dog, or even put it into the clothes washer to wash your clothes. That way you get to bathe like you are on a Cinderrella Liberty and impress Jane Fonda and; Captain Planet and the Planeteers.