The Big (Bag) Dilemma

So far I've resisted using this space as a soapbox--mostly because there really isn't that much I feel strongly about that I need to tell the world. I've been wanting to blog on the topic of shopping bags for months now, but hadn't yet found the right time. Today on Boston.com they announced that the City of Boston is considering following San Francisco's lead in banning certain types of plastic shopping bags. Praise the Lord! I don't know how or why it started, but I've been on a crusade for the past year or so to ban plastic bags in my life. Perhaps it comes from having to store our trash in our kitchen until the trash man comes, perhaps it's from the pileup of bags that collect in the cupboard and seem to multiply at an alarming rate. But more likely it's due to the lone plastic bag that has been stuck in the tree outside our house ever since we bought the place almost three years ago. It's trapped, through wind and rain, snow and sun, outside our second-story window, like a bee suffocating in a jar. It just can't break free. I've actually considered--in moments of desperation--calling the Boston Fire Department to come let the poor bag out of its misery. But seriously, back to the matter at hand: I can't stand the gratuitous use of plastic bags, not to mention the evil practice of ... double-bagging! I am the loser who rejects the bag at every opportunity, shoving boxes of Q-Tips and bottles of shampoo into my work bag after a trip to CVS, and bringing my handy $1 reusable Shaws bag to the supermarket--or when that can't be found, using any old bag I find around the house. I remind myself of my Grandmother Winslow from time to time: the woman would not be caught without a reusable canvas bag full of odds and ends she toted to and fro'. So there you have it, the Dilemma of the Plastic Bag, as I see it. Please join me in my quest!