Inspired by today’s New York Times story on the plastic bag tax that has reduced Ireland’s consumption by 94 percent, I visited reusablebags.com. While I had some idea of how much plastic we use and what happens to it in a landfill, seeing numbers like these was pretty mind-blowing:

• Worldwide, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed each year, more than one million per minute.
• Americans use more than 380 billion plastic bags and wraps each year, including 100 billion plastic shopping bags.

Although the US is the worst abuser, the rest of the world substantially contributes. I know it’s a pain to remember to bring cloth bags to the market, but after you get in the habit, you feel kind of silly going in without them. My trick is that once I’ve unpacked whatever I’ve purchased, I display the bags prominently by the front door. Of course they look terrible there, so the next time I go to my car, they’re handy to grab and stow in the back seat.

Some stores even give you a five-cent rebate for bringing your own bag, and Trader Joe’s offers a weekly contest. But hey, if you’re helping save the environment, you’re already a winner, right?