Reuse, reuse, reuse your grocery bags

Everyone knows that reusable grocery bags, like the one from GiveGreener.com (left), are all the rage. It's a good thing, too, because paper bags kill trees, and plastic bags kill everyone. Unless you recycle them. Every time. Even when we're not watching.

According to greencotton, it takes 400-1,000 years for a plastic bag to biodegrade. If we still have a planet then, and I hope we will, I think we'll feel very foolish about all those bags still lying around in the year 3000. Or, perhaps by then we'll have shot them into space … and perhaps by then discovered that it's probably not a good idea to litter in space either. (Just a inkling I have).

Here's the problem with reusable bags: you have to know you're going shopping. If you live in or near a city, chances are, you go to a busy area of that city for work or play and don't make any stops at home until your day is done. You don't necessarily remember when you roll out of bed at the crack of early that you might go shopping after work, or perhaps mid-day you realize you need something from the drug store, and there's no chance you'll go all the way home to get a reusable bag. That's not human energy efficient. We like our green solutions to be human energy efficient. If it's not easy, it'll never catch on.  Frankly, I'm impressed by how well reusable bags are doing. It's like people are starting to care! Yay people! Yay! It helps that being green is so in style. But wouldn't it be nice if it were easier, being green? Enter Trellis Earth with a solution.

Trellis Earth is making plastic-esque and even styro-esque products that don't break the planet. The secret is bioplastics, and everything they make biodegrades 100 percent in under 36 months — some products even biodegrade in under 90 days! What's bioplastic made of? Corn and stuff: "Bioplastics are biodegradable and in some cases, compostable, plastics derived from renewable raw materials such as starch from corn, potato, tapioca, or other plants and vegetables, combined with biodegradable polymers, to create products that reduce the impact on the environment in absolute carbon footprint terms," Trellis Earth's FAQ page.

People are never going to have a bag with them every time they need a bag. It's just not feasible. So, let's make our disposable bags out of stuff that's gonna break down naturally and quickly. No, not out of Hollywood starlets, out of corn and stuff. How can you help? WELL. Do you own a business? Then you should already be ordering their products, shipping is free (DHL). If you don't, then why not spend $5 to order a sample pack for your favorite restaurant or the office where you work? Click here to get an office or restaurant sample pack, or a just sample of bioplastic bags. Don't have $5 handy? Then tell someone about Trellis Earth, and continue to stick with reusable bags where neccessary. It's a step. In fact, get one of these if you can, it's called a "greenaid." It looks like a hand grenade and clips onto whatever you're carrying (purse, man-purse), or just on your belt loop, and it holds its own reusable bag. And thank you!