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Two Girls Go Green	Planet Earth
" Were looking to go greeeeeen. "
Greenopolis Points Tracker:	Two Girls Go Green is:
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	Age:	23
	Interests:	Definitely not tree...Read More.. Definitely not tree huggers... probably more of plant be-frienders? Basically, while you won't see any Two Girls Go Green team members chaining themselves to a rare elm, you will see small ways to reshape the way each of us lives--and then we blog about it here and occasionally at TwoGirlsGoGreen.com. From green product reviews, to nifty little tips on how to save our environment and some serious cash, you'll always find something new on the site. Have a product you'd like us to test, topic you'd like us to discuss, or simply want to give us some props? Contact us at TwoGirlsGoGreen@gmail.com.
	Location:	Planet Earth

Two Girls Go Green Blogs

Ma'am, Would You Like Paper or Plastic?

07/23/2008 - 11:07pm

Uhhh neither....I brought my own.....BAM!

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency...500 billion-1 trillion plastic bags are consumed yearly. Guess how many of these bags are actually recycled?

1%.

So if only 1% are being recycled, where the heck are the rest of them going (besides into my mom's kitchen drawer)?

Ocean-fills-- a study from 1975 showed some 8 million pounds of plastic bags were put into the ocean yearly
The sides of roads
Littered around animals' homes
Drains and sewage pipes
Coastlines
Murdering animals--be it suffocation, poisoning them with chemicals, etc.
You can see more statistics and devastating photos by watching this powerpoint (passed on to us by two of our readers Lindsey and David.)

So the silver-lining solution: ditch the paper and plastic, and go cloth. This alteration in lifestyle is super easy and you can look semi-trending doing it.

Tons of sites
are offering the reusable bags now. Not to mention that you can pick
one up at the checkout at most grocery stores--they're an additional
$1-2 tops. Maybe you even have something lying around your house. Or
you can go the sentimental route--which is the path I chose to go. I
bought mine from the Woolys Grocery Store in Sydney while studying abroad in Australia and I just recently brought it out of storage in pursuit of green happiness.

# of plastic bags saved so far: 13

Plastic May You R.I.P

07/30/2008 - 12:04am

When I was six years old I learned a very important lesson about ducks and six-pack plastic rings...

I've
literally been cutting those six-pack rings--commonly found strangling
my sinful Diet Coke cans--since that one 'saving wildlife' lesson in
2nd grade.

Though it is becoming less and less
popular for drinks to be packaged with these stupid rings, as evidenced
by the photo taken above (circa July 26, 2008), they still exist. I
found that specimen while cruising down the streets late Saturday
night. I ripped the rings apart and stuck them in my purse to take home
and recycle. Uhh seriously.

So there are plenty of sites
to back up the fact that sometimes these six-pack rings get littered
into the wild, leading to strangulation or starvation of the silly
little birds and sea creatures who pop their heads into them. Check out
the turtle video below for some messed up six-pack ring mutilation.
Poor turtey.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ln7_m8Msrgc

So
how tactful is this snipping strategy? Well, it definitely has its
skeptics. After doing a search on it, I found this article from The Straight Dope.
Author Cecil Adams flat out says that this practice is a "feel good
approach to ecoactivism" and that we should be investing our time into
some more warranted efforts like picking up the trash that actually
makes it onto the beaches (I wonder if he ever saw the Mr. Turtle video
from above?). Basically he says that the whole urge to cut these
plastic rings has been completely exaggerated and these little buggers
only account for maybe 7% of animal entanglements.

Thanks
Cecil, but to me every little bit counts. I am still going to continue
on in the trend of cutting them rings and, more importantly, recycling
them. A company in charge of making these guys, ITW Hi-Cone,
is really taking strides to make these beverage carriers as
eco-friendly as possible--their products are photodegradable, nontoxic,
recyclable and use minimal packaging. Plus they started the Ring Leader Recycling Program.

Most
interesting thing learned today: "All rings currently made will degrade
in sunlight in a few weeks or months, depending on the season [The Straight Dope]."