Going Green and Clean . . .

It can be as simple as taking your own shopping bag into the grocery store or as complex as getting an energy audit at home or at your business, but to put Kalamazoo on the LEEDing edge of environmentally progressive communities, everyone's going to have to pitch in. The 20 and 30 somethings who will be moving back into this region will expect us. The good news: We have a lot of room for improvement. Stay tuned here for how Kalamazoo's doing and things you can do to help make Kalamazoo green and clean.

This week's tip: Go to 1 Bag At A Time to get a re-usable shopping bag. Or you can buy one at Meijer for 99 cents. Note that:

• The petroleum in 14 plastic bags could drive a car 1 mile.
• Americans use over 10 billion plastic bags annually, consuming 14 million trees.
• It takes 70% more global warming gasses to make a paper bag than a plastic bag.
• Paper bags to not biodegrade in landfills.
• Cities spend up to 17 cents per bag in disposal costs.
• These bags not only mar the beauty of our surroundings, but pose a real threat to wild life. One study estimates that 100,000 marine animals are killed annually by plastic bags.
• Four billion plastic bags get trashed annually. If you tied them end-to-end, they would circle the earth 63 times.

And, when you use your own bag at D&W, they take a nickel off your bill.