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"Paper or Plastic?" I grew up hearing this, but you're beginning to hear it less & less. Stores are encouraging customers to buy & use bags made of canvas or hemp. Some stores are offering consumers cash back to use their own re-usable bag.

I grew up as part of the throw-away society. Disposables were a big thing - disposable diapers, plastic trashcan liners, paper or plastic grocery bags. The only time I was exposed to "real" grocery bags was in Europe. Everywhere you looked people had them slung over their shoulders full of fresh produce. I thought it was a "European thing".

I never thought about NOT using disposable bags. I used them responsibly - recycling them, using them as trashcan liners or took a couple when I walked the dogs. They cushioned breakables for shipping. I gave them to a friend for her flea market booth. But there were so many... When we moved a few months ago my husband asked me what was in the huge, light-weight boxes. There were six or eight of them, taped shut & neatly labeled "laundry room". You guessed it - they were full of plastic bags. We laughed, but I started thinking... If I was trying to use them & had that many, how many were rotting in landfills around the country?

After our move I checked out reusable bags - they were $3 each & I figured that I would need at least four of them. Money was tight so I kept using the plastic ones. About two months ago the grocery store had them for $1 a bag & I bought one. I took it home empty - the bagger didn't even seem to notice it. He just stuffed it inside a plastic bag & put it in the cart. The next time I went to the store I forgot it. I did finally remember & When the bagger asked "Plastic or paper?", I proudly handed him my re-usable bag. I expected to have the re-usable plus three or four plastic bags to carry into the house. I watched the bagger put most of my items into the re-usable. My other groceries fit in only two plastic bags. Wow!

Once home, I slung a bag over my arm, picked up the other two bags & walked into the house - no second trips to the car, no spilled groceries or torn bags - it was great. I decided to get out the sewing machine & a few pairs of ready-to-be-discarded jeans & make some generic bags. In about 25 minutes I made four additional bags, & they were FREE.

"Going Green" with re-usable bags benefits both the consumer & the planet. Most of the 500 BILLION (a conservative estimate) bags used worldwide each year end up in landfills or as blowing litter. When cows

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