The Irish Go Green!

I just heard about a great move by the Irish government - they passed a tax on plastic shopping bags ($.33 per bag) and, within weeks, plastic bag use dropped 94%. You can read more about it in this New York Times article. Journalist Elisabeth Rosenthal reports that, "Within a year, nearly everyone had bought reusable cloth bags, keeping them in offices and in the backs of cars. Plastic bags were not outlawed, but carrying them became socially unacceptable — on a par with wearing a fur coat or not cleaning up after one’s dog."

Wow. I can't wait for this to happen here in the U.S. In the meantime, I have a nice little stash of cloth bags in the back of my car, which I use every time I shop. On my sister Beth's recent visit she gave me an early birthday gift - three huge reusable bags from Costco. Yippee!

Hat tip: Green Mom Finds