The Bag Monster

It’s a bird! No, it’s a plane! No, silly… it’s the Bag Monster!

This is no joke, people. There is a man who dresses himself up as the “Bag Monster” – a costume composed of about 500 plastic bags, the same number that the average American consumes in just one year. He is traveling the country to raise awareness about the effects of single-use plastic bags on our environment, as the vast majority of the 100 BILLION bags consumed in this country every year end up in landfills – or even worse, the ocean. Ever heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? Yeah, I thought so.

Some find him quirky and all around nuts. I think he’s brilliant – bringing humor to a critical environmental adversity in order to increase public awareness. I mean, seriously. Who isn't going to pay attention to a grown man wearing nothing but 500 plastic bags?

Check out his page for updates, photos, and laughs. If you’re lucky, he could be coming to a town near you!

http://www.bagmonster.com/

A Farmers Market Frenzy

Farmers Markets: who doesn't love them? Sure they can be more expensive, although this is not always the case. And even when they are, most people find that it's worth the extra change. You enjoy fresh produce, consume less pesticides and other harmful chemicals while simultaneously supporting your local farmers, and therefore stimulating your local economy. As an added bonus, you're doing something good for the environment.

You see, your typical apple or squash or tomato travels an average of 1,494 miles from its point of origin to the produce section of your local grocery store. Compare that to an average distance of 56 miles that your fruits and veggies at the nearest farmers market have traveled. That's a lot of unnecessary CO2 that's being released into the atmosphere. 27 times as much, to be exact.

And is it just me, or is the corn from that local farmer sweeter? The apples crunchier? It's probably my mind playing tricks on me, but I'm inclined to believe that things really do taste better when they are grown only a few zip codes away.

Lucky for me, there is an abundance of farmers markets in New York. It's no wonder the city was named after a (large) piece of fruit! I was shocked to find how many more farms and farmers markets that there are on the East Coast in comparison to the West Coast.

Lucky for you, you can go to http://www.localharvest.org/ and find the nearest farms, farmers markets, and other locations selling locally grown, organic food.

And perhaps you'll stumble upon some not-so-common items like I did this morning when I found a man selling ostrich eggs.

Go. Browse. Buy. Eat. Enjoy. Repeat.

And don't forget to bring along your reusable grocery bag :)