Billion Bag Blog

These weeks are flying by. We are now 5 weeks into our challenge and the counter is going up. I sence when we have a few hundred or a few thousand people committed that we will be able to watch the counter move. I am looking forward to it.

Right now we have saved the use of over 3800 items and counting at least 200 more each day.

Well we've reached a milestone here at the BBB challenge - over 25,000 bags, bottles and bulbs kept out of landfills! Give yourselves a big round of applause - you deserve it!

I also want to acknowledge all of your efforts to bring this challenge to other "one use" items in your lives such as plastic utensils, straws, cup lids and the like. Thank you for bringing this level of commitment to your lives and your communities.

Some of us here in Phoenix are approaching our favorite restaurants with requests to reduce "one use" items and encourage people to bring their own carryout or leftovers containers. I know this is common in other parts of the country, but it is a paradigm shift here in the Wild West. Stay tuned to see how we progress and feel free to add your own comments here on what you do when you go out to eat!

Jennifer
Your Guide to Green staffer

Bottled water impacts

These figures for 2006 highlight the problems many associate with the production of plastic bottles of water in the United States.

•More than 25.5 billion plastic water bottles are sold each year in the US.•

•More than 17 million barrels of oil (not including fuel for transportation) were used in plastic bottle production.

•Bottling water produced more than 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide.

•It takes approximately 3 liters of water to produce 1 liter of bottled water.

•The total amount of energy used to produce, transport, refrigerate, and dispose of a plastic bottle of water may be as high as the equivalent of filling a 1 liter bottle one-quarter full of oil.

Source: Waste Management World, The Pacific Institute