Not so fantastic plastic

Green New Year's resolution: B.Y.O.B.

Bring your own bottle and bag in 2008, so you can avoid adding to the endless pile of plastic in our landfills and oceans.

Sure, some plastics are almost impossible to avoid, and a few types can be recycled into useful new materials. But the ubiquitous water bottle and plastic grocery bag are pretty darn wasteful, plus they're very easy to replace with things we can reuse for years.

Buy a sturdy water bottle to fill and take with you. Get some canvas or nylon shopping bags to use at stores -- more supermarkets are giving a couple cents' rebate for each reusable bag you bring too.

Much of the bottled water sold in the U.S. is no better than tap water. Corporate Accountability International points out the water bottling industry is less regulated than the U.S. municipal water supply.

And in blind taste tests, people can't really tell the difference between tap water and fancy so-called springwater. So why pay a markup of 240 to 10,000 times more for bottled H20?

If you don't like the taste of the water in your home, check out filters. These are a more sustainable solution and cheaper in the long run.

Like bottled water, plastic grocery bags are a recent phenomenon. They've only been with us since the late 1970s and early 1980s, but now Americans throw away at least 100 billion every year. Only 2% are recycled, and the plastic isn't a great quality for recycling anyway.

Ireland's plastic bag tax in 2002 has been a big success, reducing use by 90%. Other countries around the world have banned plastic bags, or businesses charge extra for plastic bags.

San Francisco, CA, recently passed a law banning plastic bags at large stores. In Austin, TX, Whole Foods Market started phasing out plastic bags entirely.

Once you get in the habit of taking your own bags to the store, you'll love how convenient they are. Fabric bags don't rip like paper or plastic, and the handles on many of the models make these bags much easier to carry.