When plastic peeves meet social change

Most of you who know me know how I feel about plastic bags. Like highway patrol cars, the less I see, the better I feel. And I'm incredibly anal-retentive about taking my reusuable bags everywhere. And I mean everywhere - like even department stores. I got a pretty, reusable bag for just this purpose so that the L.A. sales clerk at say, Macys, doesn't eye me too strangely. But bless Al Gore and his global warming hail storm of renewed action that the clerks at say Target and CVS are very friendly now when I bring my own bag. Prior to two years ago, down in the southland, I was still an anomoly. The clerk would take it strangely, like I was some kind of neaderthall who didn't know about the invention of the plastic bag and all its goodness, and reluctantly put in my purchase. Today, I get kudos and "why are aren't others like you." Well, gosh. Was it the many years in the Bay Area? I don't know. I'm just uber-responsible girl and I try not to be lazy. I've actually heard a person say it was too much work to remember to put the bag in his car. Do you know what work is? Hauling the petroleum out of the ground to make the plastic bag and all the environmental ramifications that go with that as well as wondering what to do when it runs out. That's work. But I digress.

But today, I was thrilled to get this environmental action alert on reducing plastic bags in California:

http://action.edf.org/campaign/CA_plasticbags

It's urging the California Senate to make reducing plastic bags in California a reality. Ah. It took the gas price hike to up hybrid sales and make ghosts of the SUV. Charging people for plastic bags might be the incentive to make them "work" to bring a bag to the grocery store. Maybe one day there will be an exhibit in the Smithsonian called, the plastic bag - what were they thinking! And little Becky says, "Gosh mommy, why would people be so wasteful like that." I look forward to that day!