I can't believe I used to throw away baggies. Even those heavy-duty, 2-quart, freezer bags that are almost as thick as Tupperware.

Not anymore. Unless a baggy has a hole in it (a BIG hole), I wash it, let it dry and use it again. And again. And again. My husband on the other hand, is not so picky. He throws away any baggy with rotted, moldy food in it and then I fish it out of the garbage, hold my breath, dump the contents, turn it inside out, and wash it like I would a nasty dish. (If you've ever changed a diaper, this is nothing!) I figure it takes me about 2 or 3 minutes to keep this baggy out of a landfill where it may take 300 years to break down, if ever.

It all started when I read that Americans throw away 1 MILLION BAGGIES A DAY! I believe it. Have you ever seen a kid's lunch? Most of their "food" is fluorescent blue or orange and crammed into 2 or 3 baggies. At that rate, that one kid throws away 360 to 540 baggies during a school year. Let's say 25% of kids bring their lunch. That amounts to 36,000 to 54,000 baggies in our little school alone. (I love math.)

The other day I pulled out one of those 1 quart, heavy-duty freezer bags to hold my daughter's sandwich. I looked at her and said, "Do you think you could go a whole year with this one baggy?". As usual, she rolled her eyes, then she said, "Sure." She's pretty cool.