Texas Teens Kick Plastic Bags to the Curb!
By Wendy Dew
Have you ever stood in line at the grocery store and counted how many folks are using reusable grocery bags instead of paper or plastic? I have noticed a significant increase in the amount of people using reusable bags over the past few years. Can you imagine a day when no one asks you paper or plastic? Some teens in Texas can!
The ECoppell Club has dedicated itself to helping the environment by offering free cloth bags to residents of Coppell, TX. The club began in September 2009 with the goal of eliminating plastic bags from the Coppell area. They started with Coppell with the hope of eventually replacing plastic bags in United States and even the world!
Doing their own leg work, ECoppell collected statistics of cloth bags vs. plastic bags. They found that great majority of people in Coppell continue to use plastic bags while less than 10% use cloth bags. The students compiled their statistics by standing outside three major food retailers making notes of people with cloth bags and people with plastic bags as they left the retailer.
ECoppell intends to reduce plastic bag usage by 8% initially. To help achieve this goal, the members are distributing 5000 free cloth bags to the community. The club members went door-to-door and gave presentations at various activities to raise money to purchase the cloth bags.
ECoppell members have garnered support from the local community and businesses. We can all help support teens who are making a difference. I have been using canvas grocery bags for years now, they are a lot easier to carry and never break. We can all make a difference by kicking plastic bags to the curb!
Find out more about reducing, reusing and recycling
About the author: Wendy Dew is the Environmental Education and Outreach Coordinator for Region 8 in Denver, Colorado.
Feb 15, 2011 @ 11:16:54
Good Idea’s : It Must Be Spread !!!
Small is beautiful, and can make it to the biggest work and the best result. If “Texas teens idea’s” be spread by EPA anywhere-U.S. and anywhere countries- TX teens, of course, are proud to give something for the humans. Congratulations !!!!
Feb 16, 2011 @ 09:07:17
It’s great to see communities starting a program to reduce plastic bag usage. I’ve commited a sin myself of forgetting to take the resusable bags out of my car when i head to the grocery store. Stores in my area give you a $0.10/bag discount on your overall purchase if you use reusable bags.
Feb 16, 2011 @ 15:10:09
Congrats to the teens for carrying out this great idea. My informal count while waiting in the line at my local grocery store tells me there has been a bit of an increase in customers with reusable bags over the past year. The grocery store has signs in the parking lot “Did you remember your reusable bags?” which may have helped.
Feb 20, 2011 @ 10:22:46
Great idea. Brownsville tx was the 1st
city in TX to ban bags & our communit
has supported the ordinance. We have
seen a decrease in litter & a clearner city
good job
Feb 21, 2011 @ 16:31:54
What a great initiative! Grassroots campaigns such as this are the future.
Feb 21, 2011 @ 20:26:38
Brownsville – What a great movement, to ban plastic bags?
Many people already have reusable bags at home that they’ve received from business seminars, sales people, as promotional items – What is significant is finding a way to remind people to use those!
Feb 22, 2011 @ 02:43:20
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May 03, 2011 @ 02:16:35
We must stop using plastic if we love the earth and also if we want it be healthy living beings on earth.The plastic contamination in the water and land if far too high.It does not get decomposed in soil and so we must recycle them as often as possible.
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