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Environment Our Life

THE SECRET LIFE OF OUR REUSED BAG DRAWER

BagDrawerBob and I have taken many steps toward reducing our ecological footprint.  Steps which include everything from Bob’s vasectomy, to our mostly vegan diet, to our reused plastic bag drawer.  We made a firm commitment years ago to avoid sending plastic to the landfill.

So naturally, when we moved into Camelina, we set aside a kitchen drawer for reused plastic bags.  Twenty-one months later, the drawer is so full, I was unable to shut it.

This morning I pulled the drawer out, got down on my knees and peered into the darkness.  There were a few bags stuck behind the drawer.  So I pulled them out.  And there was some used parchment paper and aluminum, so I pulled that out, too.  I kept pulling stuff out until I had a mound of used stuff.

Sad to say, most of the stuff that fell behind the drawer will end up in our compost pileand landfill.  I didn’t feel comfortable reusing the everything that has lain on the floor and I didn’t have enough room in the drawer for all of it anyway.

I learned a lesson today.  I learned that it isn’t enough to keep washing and putting away bags.  I need to manage them.  I learned that the road to hell is paved with lightly used plastic bags.

By Camille Armantrout

Camille lives with her soul mate Bob in the back woods of central North Carolina where she hikes, gardens, cooks, and writes.

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