It’s a pretty creative way of re-using older materials, and good commentary on the need for us to be more green – reduce, reuse, recycle!

Last week, L.A. City Council voted to ban disposable plastic bags by 2010. However, L.A. put a new twist to this ban. The ban would only take effect if California failed to implement a 25 cent bag fee on shoppers who request them. In essence, L.A. is really hoping to effect wider change, not just a ban within its own city limits.

As you can imagine, this is a controversial subject. The plastic bag industry, represented by the Save the Plastic Bag Coalition, filed a lawsuit against L.A. County’s plan to reduce plastic bag usage 30 percent by 2010. They argue factories will be closed and jobs will be lost. I don’t disagree with their arguments completely, but there must be a way to use plastic bag fees to help these workers get new training or find new jobs. Sticking to our old ways because it’s comfortable isn’t a great reason to me.

I won’t reiterate the all the various evils of plastic bags, but I think we’re starting to see more support for bans. In fact, I think all disposable bags should have a fee, including paper bags. I don’t see a reason why we aren’t all carrying and utilizing reusable shopping bags. I’m sure a fees and bans will get us there much more quickly.

While many companies are striving to become carbon neutral, Coca-Cola is seeking to become water neutral, meaning all the water used to produce its line of beverages will either be returned directly to the earth or reclaimed through recycling and conservation. This is a lofty goal, and Coca-Cola hasn’t actually set a timeframe. However, the company is aware that water is a precious resource which it needs to make beverages and which it needs for the company’s survival. For Coca-Cola, increasing population numbers and increasing demands on water make their goal more critical than ever.

For each liter of beverage bottled, Coca-Cola uses approximately two and a half liters of water. This amounts to nearly 100 billion gallons of water used annually, equivalent to about 20 percent of total U.S. water consumption. The water used includes water that goes directly into its beverages as well as water that is used for cleaning, lubricating machines, and growing sugar and corn (for corn syrup).

Recently, Coca-Cola has been an environmental target. In 2002, a Southern Indian village accused a Coca-Cola bottling facility of polluting and depleting groundwater, leading not only to a PR mess, but also forcing the bottler to shut down and leave the village. The last thing Coca-Cola wants is poor press, especially as corporate environmental responsibility is become more critical than ever. Also, imagine if Coca-Cola is banned from all or parts of burgeoning countries such as India or China. Being shut off from huge populations and areas for growth would be disastrous for the company.

Coca-Cola has taken some steps as it recognizes the potential PR mess that may be caused by a lack of significant proactive corporate responsibility. In some facilities, waste water is captured, treated, and used for street cleaning and car washing. Coca-Cola is also taking simple steps such as fixing leaking pipes and using less water intensive lubricants for its machines. Coca-Cola can probably take a chapter out of Wal-Mart’s book and create low-water consumption facilities with devices such as waterless urinals. Coca-Cola realizes the importance of water in its supply chain and the need to preserve as much of this natural resource as possible. If real water shortages come about, forcing bottling facilities to shut down will be the least of Coca-Cola’s worries.

If plastic bags are banned, retailers will turn to their next best (economical) alternative, which are paper bags. As luck would have it, paper bags not only kill trees (although many are manufactured from recycled paper), but they cost more to transport due to their increase weight to volume ratio, require 40 percent more energy to manufacture, and take 91 percent more energy to recycle (pound for pound) when compared with plastic bags. Paper bags contribute more to global warming than plastic bags. It turns out plastic bag bans and paper bags aren’t so great after all. Boy, this environmental and global warming stuff sure can get complex with these second the third order effects.

Should we just throw up our arms in protest and give up? Of course not! Give up is never an option at TTMYGG. If you don’t know already, the answer to my question above turns out to be neither! What we all should do is carry reusable shopping bags. There are numerous places to buy them, and many only cost a few dollars (or less!). Some supermarkets such as Whole Foods even give you a credit for bringing your own bag, meaning you can recoup the cost of the bag fairly quickly. Trader Joe’s enters customers carrying reusable shopping bags into a monthly lottery to win $50 in free groceries.

If you’re feeling particularly flush with money and want to make a reusable bag fashion statement, don’t worry, there are many options. If you really don’t want to donate this money to a good cause, you can buy designer reusable bags. Castiglioni has a folding nylon bag which retailers for $843, while Stella McCartney has an organic canvas tote for $495. Not to be outdone, Hermes sells its Silky Pop grocery bag for a mere $960, but at least it collapses into a wallet-size pouch. Trader Joe’s bags come in at a whopping $3. Decisions, decisions,…

Instead of sending these rolls to the landfill, reuse them and have an afternoon of fun with your kids.