I wish that stores would go back to offering consumers paper bags as an option for their purchases. Plastic is made from oil, which is not a renewable resource, and oil is expensive. The cheap plastic bags that we get from Wal-Mart to bring our groceries home are flimsy; the handles hurt my hands; and they rip open before I get the groceries home. Plastic bags have no insulating qualities, they do not help to keep cold things cold or hot things hot. Plastic bags have got to be increasing in price; which in turn is increasing prices to the consumer. Plastic bags do not decompose; they have to be recycled. Lots of people don’t recycle them, they just throw them away, filling up our landfills with plastic bags! The only time I like plastic bags is when I have to take something wet somewhere, like a wet bathing suit from the beach back to the house, or when I’m disposing of something stinky like used cat litter.

Paper bags, on the other hand, will decompose (or burn in the fireplace) and they are made from a renewable resource: wood. If you use two paper bags, one inside the other, they will help to insulate the groceries, keeping ice cream from melting before you get it home. You can make masks and kid’s costumes from brown paper bags! You can make Christmas decorations and other crafts from brown paper bags! I like paper bags much better than plastic bags!