It’s now a trend: the reusable grocery bag. I am beginning to see grocery stores selling canvas bags for $1 a piece. I fathom that those prices will increase when (or if the “pay a quarter per plastic bag” law passes).

WholeFoods has already taken a step towards this “banning plastic at the checkout” concept. By Earth Day, April 22, 2008 their 270 U.S., Canadian, and British based stores will be officially asking their customers “What type of reusable bag do you have today?” instead of “Paper or plastic?”

But before many of us jump on the bandwagon, why not look at a few statistics on plastic first? According to the American Chemistry Council:

1. 2,000 plasic bags weigh 30 pounds vs 2,000 paper bags weigh 280 pounds. Therefore, plastic bags take up less landfill.
2. Delivery of paper bags vs plastic bags: seven trucks vs only truck to deliver the same amount of plastic bags. This means less energy and less emissions into the environment.
3. The manufacture of paper bags uses 70% more air emissions than plastic bags.
4. Plastic bags generate 80% less waste than paper bags.
5. 815 Million pounds of plastic and film was recycled in 2006 - an increase of 24% from 2005.

So what’s all this hype on banning plastic bags in grocery stores about? Even retailers such as Walmart offer plastic bag collection bins at the front of the store. The problem is, we as a society in general do not recycle enough. Don’t you see all those poor beat up plastic bags hanging from the tree branches? No, they are budding flowers. In the US alone, approximately 100 Billion bags are used per year, of which most ends up sitting in our landfills for 1,000 years.

And I haven’t even said my prayers for all those innocent marine animals that choked and died from eating pieces of plastic. You would think that they would know the difference between jellyfish and plastic but apparently, they don’t.

So what’s the catch-all solution? BYOB: Bring Your Own Bag (Sorry party animals. In this case, the acronym does not mean bring your own beer).

If you want to jump on the BYOB bandwagon, and don’t want to spend a lot of money on buying one or want to bring a trendy looking one, here are some places where you can find great patterns on creating your own reusable shopping bags. But you may need to know how to sew, knit or crochet.

Whipup.net - Keep a wallet-sized fold-up shopping bag with you at all times.
Creative Kismet - Shows you how to turn your old pillowcases into a cute shopping bag.
morsbags.com - Download easy to follow instruction on how to sew your own cloth bag.
houghtonavenue.com - A knitted grocery bag for a cottony shopping experience.

Bring Your Own Bag. What an excellent concept.

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“Heroes aren’t born… They’re built!” as the clashing of titles and explosions to the tune of AC/DC’s “Back in Black” hits the trailer’s screen.

This film starts off Marvel Studios’ line of hopes as a major production house with Paramount Pictures distributing “Iron Man” and in a few weeks “The Incredible Hulk” hitting theaters to revamp the unpopular predecessor. Though the Hulk shows promise, he’s been portrayed already and there lays the difference. Iron Man has never been an A-list comic hero at the same ranks of Spider-Man and so on, but the fundamental difference between any of a vast quantity of adaptations is that this is a character built rather than made or born and emphasizes that it’s the heart and soul that drives the most advanced of technological means. The film, like the suit, encompasses a complex and original storyline with heart to go along with its brains. Tony’s weakened heart has always been his Achilles heel, but it’s also what gets him out of trouble and inspires his re-build as this movie knocks off Hollywood’s summer season. The entertainment as opposed to the weapons industry will be looking at Iron Man’s flight stats against audiences this weekend hoping a strong summer season is possible and for the first time in a long time, a new and original hero to the big screen has blasted in the form of the first in a line of inevitable sequels.

His hand cradles a glass of Scotch on the rocks, as he rides in the back seat of a Humvee that’s rumbling across the Afghanistan desert and this all shows the power Tony Stark has. He’s the brilliant head of Stark Industries, the leading supplier of weapons to the U.S. military, and he converses comfortably with the soldiers who have been assigned to protect him during a trip to demonstrate his latest missile. They, in turn, are blown away with his high-flying ways, which in retrospect aren’t as high as they will be. “To peace!” he cheers with a raise of his glass but things soon go awry. The Humvee is attacked by insurgents and Tony is abducted into the hidden caves where all bad things must happen if it’s not a stone castle or base visible from space. While in captivity, with a battery attached to his heart to keep him alive, he’s ordered to construct a weapon of, assumingly, mass destruction. Is there any other with terrorists? Instead, with the help of the doctor who saved him he creates a suit of armor to become a weapon himself to escape.

Tony’s a changed man, and the changes to his life and company also bring its own share of enemies. His top executive with a shaved head and devilish goatee, Obadiah Stane, is appalled at Tony’s wish to cease making weapons. Stane insists, “What we do keeps the world from falling into chaos.” You know that old excuse.

In Stark’s mansion that’s carved into the face of a Malibu cliff, the electronics and neon lights of technology are slowly creating a progressive line of suits in the forms of Mark 1, Mark 2 and Mark 3. The moment Tony Stark climbs inside the streamlined, rocket-propelled suit with its perfectly intertwined pieces that lock together a new hero has come to the silver screen with metallic glory. Let us now call it, the platinum screen.

Iron Man’s original comic book that inspired the film took place in the 1960’s during the Vietnam War, and Tony Stark functioned as an anti-communist icon within the complex world of military and industrial spheres. Moving the film’s action to Afghanistan in the present day makes it just as relevant in its own way for a new time. The casting in this film is excellent and Robert Downey Jr. does an amazing job as this character because he is who says he is. Take a shot of the comic drawn Tony Stark and compare him to the filmed Tony Stark and there is no difference. You don’t stretch your imagination in any way to envision Downey Jr. as Tony Stark. Perhaps, Robert Downey Jr. is a cover for a hidden alter ego. Gwyneth Paltrow plays Pepper Potts who keeps Tony’s life organized and does a fairly good job finally returning to the screen in something a little higher in budgetary value since… ever. Stark’s best friend and Air Force colonel, Rhodey, is played by Terrence Howard and he’s just as bland as usual. Robert Downey Jr. and his nemesis Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane are the real stand-outs underneath their shells. Jon Favreau of “Made,” “Elf” and “Zathura” directing glory does an excellent job for his largest movie to date in scale. There’s a sense of story, humor and not to mention pure visual bliss in this film. The images and colors in this film are amazing and wonderful to look at, even in the areas of deserts which most would conclude to be the plainest and most uninteresting of scenes. Not so and a nod of congratulations to both production design and cinematography are deserved. The suit looks amazing enough to take your breath away and make you want one instead of the most luxurious of cars, but need I not forget, Tony Stark has exotic cars too!

The only way you won’t enjoy this film is if you find it impossible to either enjoy a comic book flavored film or you just can’t stand a guy in an overblown set of ski boots. Otherwise, Iron Man’s first film is a success with few flaws and like the development of Stark’s suit; this can be considered a first prototype that went through trial and error.

A sequel is certainly ironclad and is the right thing, and for Stark, the right thing for the first time in his life is done in theaters May 2, 2008, but rest assured, not his last.

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