Plastic bags came up in a recent conversation during one of our World Changing Austin blogger gatherings. I was asked what Houston’s doing about plastic bags. My quick response was not much, but in all honesty that wasn’t a fair assessment.

Houstonians probably have a different perspective on plastic bags than most people in America.
Houston’s economy is built on the energy industry, specifically oil. Aerospace and biomedical research are also significant economic engines. The Houston Ship Channel is home to a $15 billion petrochemical complex, the largest in the country. It dominates U.S. production of three major resins: polyethylene which is used to make plastic bags is one of them.

I grew up in Houston and can tell you that switching from plastic to canvas or compostable bags will not come as naturally to Houstonians as it will to citizens of San Francisco or Austin. It doesn’t mean that Houstonians don’t recognize the need to make the switch; the fact is our culture is different. When I was a kid if we wanted to show off our town we’d take visitors on a boat tour of the Houston Ship Channel. I dreaded those outings. The tour was interesting in a way. I got to see ships from all over the world. Sprawling chemical plants dominated the landscape on both sides of the channel. They were creepily fascinating, even beautiful. There were silvery snaking pipes spewing steam and one plant had three perfectly round tanks painted vanilla, chocolate and strawberry that looked like enormous scoops of ice cream. This industrial fantasy wasteland was punctuated by red, orange and blue bursts of flames from flares. What I remember most about those boat trips was the sickeningly sweet smell and greasy feel and taste of the chemically saturated air and water. It made me sick. I complained to myself about the air once and another passenger heard me. He told me I shouldn’t complain that it was the smell of money. Houstonians breathe and bleed petrochemicals while others live off bits and bytes.

All hope is not lost …….
The plastic bag issue made the front page of the business section of the Houston Chronicle recently. The conclusion of the article was that Houston wasn’t close to following in San Francisco’s footsteps by passing an ordinance to reduce the use of plastic bags any time soon. Unlike San Francisco thousands of jobs in the greater Houston area depend on the petrochemical industry. According to the Society of the Plastics Industry Texas has 4,100 jobs in the plastic bag industry, more than any other state.

In spite of Houston’s economic need for a healthy petrochem industry it’s growing greener. Randall’s, a Houston grocery store, is selling 99-cent reusable bags made of recycled plastic. H-E-B reports that it is selling out of canvas bags in the Houston market. H-E-B is considering selling reusable bags made of recycled plastic and already collects plastic bags for recycling at its stores.

Using reusable or compostable bags is another way each of us can lessen our footprint. I have three kitchen sized trash bags full of smaller plastic bags I’m collecting to recycle. The problem is I collect them, but rarely remember to recycle them. I’m not alone. Over 500 billion plastic bags are distributed annually. We’ll use 18,000 plastic bags in our life time and recycle only 3 % of them. One pound of greenhouse gas is produced for every two plastic bags made. That means my use of plastic bags could potentially pump 9,000 pounds of greenhouse gas into the atmosphere. Enough. I’m off to the store to recycle all those plastic bags with canvas bags in tow.