Everytime I go shopping I come back with atleast 10 plastic bags which end up in the trash.  I heard plastic can take a long time to degrade. 

Today was an interesting day.  At work, some how we got on the conversation about how some groceries give you 5 cents for every bag you bring instead of using a plastic or paper bag.  Then when I got home my wife told me she ordered reusable bags.

Why not.  There must be a reason these two things happened on the same day.  I have to admit this makes a lot of sense.  Reuse.

 
  Baggu Reusable Shopping Tote - 3-Pack
 
 Stop using plastic bags.

As I was walking around the mall, I looked at all the clothes, gadgets, toys, books and stuff that fill all the stores.  I thought to myself whether this stuff sells or not eventually it will all end up in a landfill even if it is recycled and reused.  Kind of like Death and Taxes.  They are unavoidable.

To make matters worse, you know that soon the next season of clothes, outdoor gear, toys for the next movie and latest gadget will replace the stuff on the shelves now.  Guaranteed garbage.

Now imagine the mall full of stuff in a landfill.  Now do this at minimum four times per year.  Now imagine all the malls and stores.

All this waste does not even include all the packaging, hangers and shopping bags.  It does not even include all the energy expended to get the products to the stores, or the energy required to make the products.

It is amazing that we actually pay so little for everything.  The reason is that in the Price = Cost + Profit equation the cost of the products and transportation in dollar terms.  What is missing is what economists call the diseconomies.  If we added this to the equation, maybe we would not demand and want so much stuff.  More on this later.

Scary isn't it.  Reduce.

Did you know the Department of Energy expects liquid fuels like gasoline and diesel fuel demand will grow by 40% by 2030?

Some drivers of this growth are

• Population
• Demand for products which need to be transported far like food and luxury items
• Increased wealth and spending power
• People wanting bigger homes
• People living farther from their jobs
  
  And guess what we are the ones demanding all of this.  Be 100% responsible.