Reusable bags are only good if you always use them!

There is an article written in the Wall Street Journal called, "An Inconvenient Bag," that I thought was interesting. Before reading this article, I had thought reusable bags only had upsides to them because I assumed they were all made out of recycled materials. Come to find out there are many downsides or cons to reusable bags that this article pointed out. For example, did you know thousands of reusable bags are being made and even given away because they have become the most popular new marketing tool? These bags are made with even heavier materials than plastic bags and so are likely to sit in landfills even longer. Plus did you know many of these are made in China and then shipped thousands of miles away. People who take or buy these bags but do not choose to use them are creating an even bigger problem for our environment. How many of us sometimes forget to bring our reusable bag and so buy more reusable bags than we actually need?

We thought of a solution to this problem that involves stores. Stores could allow for a bin or box to be placed near the registers for the community to donate their extra reusable bags. This way customers who have forgotten theirs, may borrow one. We figure people who care will want this to succeed and remember to return the bags at a later time and even donate more. So far we have tried to test this idea with Basha's but we were rejected because they didn't want to lose sales from their own reusable bags. We will keep trying, but what do you think of this idea? Please comment below.

Kendric K.

How Big is just One Billion?

A billion is a hard number to really understand because it represents a very huge amount. To help put it in perspective, here are some things to think about:

1. It takes about 30 years just to count to one billion.
2. One billion minutes ago, the Roman empire was flourishing.
3. One billion centimeters is about the distance from Chicago to Tokyo.
4. One billion hours ago, our ancestors were living in the stone age.
5. One billion months ago, dinosaurs roamed the Earth.

Now this is just one billion, can you imagine 100 billion?

(I found this info on mathforum.org and wikipedia.org)

Dwight W.