The approach of Earth Day on April 22 will mark the beginning of the end for plastic shopping bags at the Mar Vista Farmers' Market. After prolonged debate, the market has decided to ban the controversial bags, which pose a serious threat to marine life and contribute to our reliance on oil. Come Sept. 1, 2011, plastic grocery bags  will no longer be given out by Mar Vista Farmers' Market vendors.

To wean shoppers off their reliance on the offending plastic bags, Mar Vista Farmers' Market management and the Mar Vista Community Council's Green Committee will launch a "Share a Bag" program at the market on April 17. Five hundred free, reusable bags will be distributed at the market's Green Booth between 8:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. 

After this pre-Earth Day kickoff, the Green Booth will host an ongoing  Share a Bag Bin, an informal exchange of clean, gently used bags of the non-plastic variety. Help make the program a success. Leave your extra bags in the Share a Bag Bin or come and get one for your own shopping needs any Sunday. 

Many Mar Vistans already bring their own cloth or nylon shopping bags to the market.  These bags actually hold more volume, don’t cut into your hands like plastic and have become a kind of “green badge of honor” for those who use them.

Are you ready to leave the plastic life behind? Join me for a Tank Top Transformation Demo next Sunday April 17 at the Farmers' Market Green Booth between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. where I'll teach you how to turn tank tops into produce bags. Bring your own gently used garment and leave with a re-purposed produce bag.  

If you're looking for a less crafty but equally green alternative, visit Emma of EC Creations across from the Green Booth, where you can find exquisite, hand-made-in-Mar-Vista cloth and mesh bags of all sizes.

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