Modern Society will find no solution to the ecological problem unless it takes a serious look at its lifestyles.    -- Pope John Paul II

My grandmother kept and reused many things, especially wrapping papers or paper bags. Born in Japan in 1900, she was one of those who experienced the time when Japan was poor. Many people around the world lived like this back then, but the number of those people are few nowadays. We invented many things which are just convenient to only human beings. Now, we are the center of the universe..., but are we the only creature on this planet?

Plastic and paper bags are a common type of shopping bag in may countries. However, they have been impacting some issues in our environment.

• Most plastic bags do not biodegrade, they photodegrade although increasing numbers are made from degradable material. They would take 10 to 20 years or much more, plastic holder rings would take 450 years to break down into smaller and smaller toxic bits contaminating soil and waterways.
• Plastic bags are one of the top items of litter on beaches, roads, sidewalks, and vegetation along with cigarette butts and Styrofoam. Over 100,000 sea turtles, whales and other marine mammals die every year from eating discarded plastic bags mistaken for food. A 32 ft Bryde's Whale died soon after becoming stranded in August 2000 on Cairns Beach, Australia. An autopsy found that the whale's stomach was tightly packed with 24 sq ft of plastic, including many plastic check-out bags.
• Paper bags take more than four times as much energy to manufacture as a paper bag. According to the American Forest and Paper Association, 14 million trees were cut to produce the 10 billion paper grocery bags used by Americans that year alone In 1999. Trees are major absorbers of greenhouse gases. And ironically, the manufacturing of bags produces greenhouse gases.
• Although paper bags have a higher recycling rate than plastic, each new paper grocery bag is made from mostly virgin pulp for better strength and elasticity, which means trees are still being cut to produce more paper bags.
• It's a little old study though, but according to Federal Office of the Environment in August 1988, paper sacks generate 70% more air and 50 times more water pollutants than plastic bags. But the conclusion is that both plastic and paper bags generate pollution in their production processes and contribute to air and water pollution.

There are so many studies in regards to this problem and there is no definite solution so far. But most of them say "Reduce" and "Reuse". So here are the things we can do easily.

• Use reusable bags, boxes, or a backpack for your shopping and keep them in your car so you can reduce paper or plastic bags which may end up as a litter. Many grocery stores sell canvas shopping bags you can use and wash repeatedly. Or you can purchase your own bag from stores and reuse it for your shopping. ReusablebBags.com has many variety of reusable bags. Please check.
• If it is not practical to bring a reusable bag to your shopping, then reuse plastic or paper grocery bags as a garbage bin liner.

I think we are aware that many products, including drugs, vaccines, cosmetics, household cleaners, pesticides, foodstuffs, and packing materials are tested on animals, but not so clear about what has been done. According to PETA's StopAnimalTest.com, as many as 115 million animals are experimented on and killed in laboratories in the U.S. every year. The pet food company, Iams' investigation is now famous, many people are boycotting them. PETA says today's non-animal research methods are humane, more accurate, less expensive, and less time-consuming than animal experiments, yet change comes slowly. So here is something we can do - buying products which don't test on animals. You can search those products on leapingbunny.org's shopping guide. 8 national animal protection groups banded together to form the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics (CCIC) in 1996. The CCIC promotes a single comprehensive standard and an internationally recognized "Leaping Bunny" logo. The CCIC offers the most up-to-date list of companies that have agreed in writing to ban ingredient testing throughout their manufacturing process, including verifiable assurances from ingredient suppliers, promising to adhere to a fixed cut-off date.

“Cruelty free” does not always mean the cosmetic was not tested on animals. Because the government has not legally defined “cruelty free,” it can mean many different things.

• The final product was not tested on animals, but the ingredients were individually tested on animals.
• The manufacturer did not test the cosmetic on animals, but the company that supplied.
• The ingredients did test on animals.
• The animal testing was done by a different company, or in a foreign country, or more than 5 years ago.

If you would like to learn more about the animal testing, please go to "Animals in Research" at HSUS. It's pretty a shocking reality but I think we need to know.

Oftentimes, animal issues are people issues. If you are in desperate poverty, then your survival comes first. If you see an animal you could kill and sell /poach so you and your whole family would be able to survive for a while. Then you would kill it. This is happening in many places - South America, Asia or Africa. One program at African Wildlife Foundation has been succeeded by including local people in their plan to protect Bonobo in Congo. Just focusing on animals would not solve problems those areas have. Some organizations I listed here are not directly related to animal protection. But I truly believe that helping to build communities would lead helping endangered animals as well as those local people's lives.

Arts For The Animals

This is a unique giving program that combines wildlife Donations and original folk art. You can donate, which means buy some art / fair trade items created by local people. And this contribution will be used to help programs or animals. You can chose by a wildlife program or a conservation organizations.

KIVA

Kiva lets you connect with and loan money to unique small businesses in the developing world. By choosing a business on Kiva.org, you can "sponsor a business" and help the world's working poor make great strides towards economic independence.

Heifer International

Their mission is to work with communities to end hunger and poverty and to care for the earth. They do this by providing appropriate livestock, training and related services to small-scale farmers and communities worldwide.

GlobalGiving

GlobalGiving is a marketplace where you can browse ways to help others around the world, pick the ones you are most passionate about, and give to the solution.

Changing The Present

You can browse their causes to find gifts that make a difference, or search for your favorite nonprofit to make a donation. You can share these gifts with your friends and family, or use them for your own nonprofit giving.

Architecture for Humanity

They provides a range of services to community groups, NGO's and others seeking architecture and design services. In addition they provide support to designers seeking to provide pro bono services to community groups through our design fellowship.