Dump The Plastic Bag Habit - Keep Our Rivers Clean

Every summer, I go on a kayaking trip with some friends to just relax and enjoy the great outdoors. Now, while many of these rivers can never really be called pristine anymore, there are usually few signs of blatant littering and pollution. All that changed this year. I'm not sure if a storm had blown through the area or some of the locals had just decided that the area was an ideal dumping ground, but whatever the reason, many of the trees in the area were positively festooned with plastic bags. Words could not adequately describe the anger and sadness I felt just then, as I wondered whether our future generations will ever have the same opportunities to appreciate nature the same way we have.

If there is any consolation, it is knowing that I am not alone if my loathing of 'tree bags'. For anyone interested in river cleanups, there are organizations like American Rivers that serve as clearinghouses for volunteers and independent organizers. You can easily find an event to help out by entering your geographical information.

Unfortunately it doesn't seem like there are any clean up events scheduled for my area, so I guess there's nothing for it but to try and get one of Ian's Frazier's patented plastic bag removers and get the job done myself. Until it gets here, I can only hope that the trend towards using reusable shopping bags continue to grow, so some day this will no longer be an issue.