Letter from a Plastic Bag Monster

Written by Alex Minik, Plastic-Free MKE Volunteer & Seasoned Plastic Bag Monster

Hello,

For those of you who don’t know me, I am gaining some traction as the “Plastic Bag Monster.” I have 500 plastic bags that are attached to me and I stand outside of grocery stores where many of my plastic bag friends exist and get released into our environment. In actuality, I am just the talking head of 500 plastic bags that took a deep look inside themselves and decided to come together to try and create change. We educate how harmful us plastic bags have been, how excessive our kind is, and showcase alternative options. No-one likes the feeling of being used… especially when it is harmful to others. We also represent the average number of plastic bags one American uses in only one years’ time. 

Now, as you might imagine, it isn’t always pleasant being viewed as a monster. But we do indeed represent a monstrosity. When we look at our exterior, we see all the harmful and toxic plastic that get’s in your drinking water, your beer, your food, and thus in your bodies. Not to mention all the other beautiful wildlife we harm. Many people at the stores understand this monstrosity and some other people just seem to think that it’s a funny game to guess how many bags we are. Which is certainly part of the educational aspect. And although we bags are trying to get reactions out of people to get people to stop and think, we by no means think of ourselves as a laughing matter. We identify as a “plastic bag monster” … at least for the time being. We don’t want to be a monster forever… But we must be honest with ourselves and where we currently blow in the wind, which is everywhere.

Now, us bags that have come together are indeed an introspective bunch. We noticed that in the midst of trying to inspire change in others that we have a lot we can improve on ourselves. When we were out in the powerful sun outside of Pick n’ Save, we realized that not only was our petroleum based exterior a problematic example, but we had more petroleum pain inside. As we dug deep, we noticed our talking head was wearing some clothing that was made of polyester! For those of you who don’t know, polyester is plastic. When you wash polyester clothes, microplastics breakoff and get into our waterways. We have a lot we can do ourselves and will take responsibility for that change as it comes to our attention. We hope to inspire and lead a new life to showcase that anyone can change if they want to. 

We may still be a monstrosity for now… But maybe if we continue to improve, inspire, and play our part in this harmonious change, we hope we will earn a new title and be seen as a protesting plastic pioneer! A Plastic Bag Monster can dream…