Submitted by Shirley Murtaugh
YMCA Volunteer
Right next to Charlie’s Snow-Cone booth at the south end of the Farmers Market in Bixby Knolls is a small table staffed by YMCA volunteers. The products they are offering–sturdy, reusable shopping totes–are just the ticket for customers of the market.
Each bag can hold the contents of three to five plastic bags and is far easier to carry, with secure, comfy handles just long enough to use as a shoulder bag.
Ordinary plastic bags are strangling landfills and waterways. Some people may not know that the petroleum it takes to make just 14 plastic bags would drive a car one mile. Fourteen billion plastic bags are thrown away in America each year–and it costs about 17 cents to dispose of each bag.
What about paper bags? It releases 70 percent more global warming gasses to make a paper bag than a plastic bag, and, contrary to what many consumers believe, they are not fully disposable in landfills,
The YMCA’s Dottie Warmsley says, “Use one of these totes twice a week for 2 years and each will eliminate! 11 pounds of garbage.”
At the Farmers Market, the Y Service Club offers bags in a range of colors–chocolate brown, navy blue, jet black or Christmas red.
Made of long-lasting polypropylene, the reusable bags are washable in cold water. If the stain isn’t oily, one can just swish them under the faucet and shake them dry.
The Service Club is asking a five dollar donation per bag or five bags for $20. All the proceeds go toward children’s programs at the Lakewood YMCA.
The bags are part of a program founded by Lisa Foster entitled “1 Bag at a TimeTM.”
According to Foster, some markets offer incentives to shoppers who bring their own sacks. She urges everyone to discover how easy it is to preserve natural resources while shopping. “With this bag, you can help save the world–one bag at a time.”
