Bag it

I am sure I killed a lot of trees today. It was NOT a good day. Lots to print/photocopy at work, and considering not many places recycle here in Cayman, I cringe every time I hit print. Considering how much more sophisticated Cayman is compared to oh say Bermuda, I wish it housed a proper recycling facility. Paper, glass, aluminium - you can bet there will be a lot less ending up at the dump. I cringe when I think of the dump, all that plastic holding out only to degrade completely a good 100-500 years later, depending on its strength. In fact, I cringe every time I snap up a plastic bag at the grocery store, because what will temporarily hold the groceries for a little while, will inevitably end up at the dump filled with what not. Cayman has got to do better than this. India, a third world country, recycles, for Pete's sake.

Some grocery stores in Toronto will charge you for every plastic bag you need to cart your groceries, about 5 cents a bag, or you're welcome to help yourself to one of the cardbox boxes at the front of the store. On this trip I was told that this was now mandatory at all grocery stores in Toronto but the folks failed to tell me that this applied to ALL stores, clothing included. It was much like them asking me to pick up liquor from the liquor store, but failing to mention that the liquor store had moved!!! Anyway, not wanting to make the mistake of going into a store minus my own bag, I snapped up a bunch of what I think are adorably chic and extremely strong, widely spaced reusable bags from Walmart. I now feel so much better using these instead of having to add one more plastic bag to Cayman's dump. In an effort to encourage Torontonians to participate in a green program such as this, bags are now 5 cents each at all locations. It definitely works. 5 cents can add up to a lot pretty fast, so, get ready because this will soon be coming to a Canadian city or province near you. Such a novel idea and high time for the rest of the world to join in, don't you think???