Bring your own bag!

There is this woman at the deli where I usually get my lunch who has me thinking of not going there anymore. The reason? Because every single day since she started working as cashier three months ago she tries to stuff my lunch in a plastic bag and every single day I tell her I don't need one. I don't need to contribute to even more waste on this overburdened planet when all I am doing is carrying a sandwich. How after three months can someone still not remember the habits of a daily customer, especially after I've told her several times that a plastic bag for one sandwich is a waste? I mean, the guy behind the deli doesn't have to ask if I want everything on my sandwich because he knows the answer is yes, even when I get different kinds of sandwiches. She is either one of the most oblivious people on the planet or one of the dumbest.

Last week San Francisco became the first city in the US to ban plastic bags from large stores. IKEA has started to charge customers for plastic bags. More bans and charges like these are in store for us - this is the future of the planet we're talking about here.

It takes 1000 years for one of these plastic bags to degrade. It was estimated that San Francisco alone used 181 million plastic bags a year. The ban also saves 450,000 gallons of oil. What more reason do you need to stop using plastic bags? I'm doing my best to avoid them.