Now, most major sustainability groups have said that paper is actually more wasteful than plastic because of the energy and water it takes to produce, and I agree that going back to paper is definitely not the solution. However. It does go to show how we as a society are creatures of habit. We got used to plastic bags and it got to the point where we didn't consider WHY we were using them, just that they were convenient.
While Kyle and I were in SE Asia last summer we couldn't help but notice how they still look at plastic bags as a matter of convenience, not looking at the environmental impact. They were EVERYWHERE. No matter what you bought, they put it in at LEAST one bag. And boy did they look at you funny when you didn't want a bag.
Although I suppose they did do some recycling. At one store where we bought LaoLao (Laotian rice whiskey), they refilled an old beer bottle with it for us.
It makes you think about how other people live and their priorities. Really, when you are struggling to feed your family, one probably isn't thinking much about saving the planet.
Slightly off topic (ok, really off topic), it is the same sort of deal over there with animal rights. People would laugh at it. Our views must seem very strange to them. We saw a truck full of dogs, presumably headed for dinner, in deplorable conditions in eastern Laos.
Anyways....back to plastic.
I was talking to my Mummu today (My grandma - she's Finnish), and she was telling me about how they never had shopping bags. Everyone had their basket -- she still has her's although it is holding shoe polish at the moment -- and you would never go to the store without it.
It's all about habit
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