Maybe its not perfect but a productive use of plastic bags is apparently stuffing them in plastic bottles to use as insulation. It is working in Guatemala as a solution for classrooms with no walls. According to this Treehugger article a Peace Corps volunteer thought of collecting the towns bottles and bags to put them to good use and the whole community pitched in to make it happen. Keep in mind that these “plastic walls” are sandwiched in cement but it is definitely one of the more creative and resourceful ways to put our billions of plastic bags to work (According to The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually. An estimated 12 million barrels of oil is required to make that many plastic bags). The Journal also explains the factors that make the paper versus plastic debate difficult to answer.

As we posted earlier, reusuable bags make sense not just for the environment but they easier to carry and hold more. I understand that it is difficult to get in the habit of remembering to have one handy, which is all the more reason (get ready for the Abe’s plug) to have a few on hand. A quick search on Abe’s turns up an assortment of bags and Deja just joined and will be adding their funky collection very soon.