When responding to a post about using plastic bags at the grocery store, I figured I should make my response a little more widespread. I've blogged about the work of Chris Jordan before- and with any luck I will see an exhibit of his one day.

Jordan uses his photographic skills to give his viewer insight into American consumption habits. From light bulbs, barrels of oil and paper bags, to breast augmentations and prisoners in our corrections systems, Jordan puts into perspective what we take for granted everyday.

If you haven't already heard of the Northeast Resource Recovery Association (NRRA), you should take note: The Epsom-based association is dedicated to helping people, municipalities and businesses advance their recycling efforts.

One of the big ways the NRRA can help is by offering backyard compost bins for just $40. If you've shopped around at all for compost bins, you might note that this is A VERY GOOD DEAL! (Full disclosure: This editor purchased a bin through NRRA last spring and has had great success with it.) More information on the bins:
• 80 gallon capacity

According to the Earth Policy Institute (www.earth-policy.org/): “Annual consumption in the United States in 1976 was less than 2 gallons for every man, woman, and child; some 30 years later, Americans on average each now drink about 30 gallons of bottled water a year.”

According to the institute, compared with tap water, which is delivered through an energy-efficient infrastructure, bottled water is an “incredibly wasteful” product.

Each year, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide. That comes out to over 1 million per minute. Billions end up as litter each year.

And paper bags aren’t free of controversy: According to www.reusablebags.com, “In 1999, 14 million trees were cut to produce the 10 billion paper grocery bags used by Americans that year. Paper bag production delivers a global warming double-whammy: Forests (major absorbers of greenhouse gases) have to be cut down, and then the subsequent manufacturing of bags produces greenhouse gases.”