We all commonly are asked if we want plastic or paper bags at the grocery store checkout counter. I am not sure how many customers think about the benefit of picking paper, but environmentalists sure do.

Why am I inspired to pose this question when we are about ready to use tons of plastic bags, plastic wraps, plastic water bottles and the like as we travel and celebrate Thanksgiving? Well, I am in San Francisco and last evening I stopped by a drug store for some “stuff” and at the checkout the young lady asked if I want a bag. Well, instead of the pretty blue plastic version, I was handed a nice brown paper bag with REUSEABLE / RECYCLABLE imprinted on both sides. The ultra-progressive and environmentally conscious San Francisco City Council has apparently mandated plastic bags off the checkout line!

Plastic bottles are sure to follow. 1,500 plastic bottles of water are consumed every second in the USA, and out of the 50 billion bottles of water being bought each year, 80% end up in a landfill, even though recycling programs exist. 17 million barrels of oil are used in producing bottled water each year, and bottled water costs 1,000 times more than tap water and drinking 2 litres of tap water a day only costs 50 cents per year.