Karen's Keynotes
by Karen Armstrong, Human Development Extension Agent
Rolette County

PLASTIC BAG LITTER

Earlier this year the state of California outlawed the use of plastic grocery bags. I cheered their environmentally friendly approach. Although I use plastic grocery bags I dislike dealing with them and their impact on our environment. Just look at the road ways and fence lines this time of year. They are scattered with plastic bags. I am glad to know that North Dakota will soon be stepping in line to reduce the use of plastic grocery bags.

More than one trillion plastic bags are used worldwide every year, but efforts, including a new program in North Dakota, are underway to prevent these bags from becoming litter.

The Reusable Bag Campaign is a collaborative effort among private businesses and government agencies to buy and distribute reusable shopping bags to shoppers at retail stores across the state.

"You can use cloth, canvas and string bags over and over again," said Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson. "When they do wear out, you can throw them away with no environmental consequences."

The North Dakota Department of Agriculture is the lead sponsor of the project and will be joined by the Office of Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency of the North Dakota Department of Commerce, which has submitted the project in a grant proposal to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Johnson said local sponsors are needed to help distribute the bags. "Grocery stores will be near the top of the list," he said. "Every free reusable bag they hand out will be a lot fewer plastic bags they have to pay for."

Announcement of the campaign was made to coincide with the annual observance of Earth Day on Sunday. The year-long distribution is scheduled to start in July. Johnson said that according to the EPA, U.S. consumers use more than 380 billion plastic bags, sacks and wraps each year.

"These plastic bags just don’t go away," Johnson said. "Instead, they break down into smaller and smaller toxic bits, polluting the soil and water and eventually making their way into the food chain."

Johnson said each reusable bag can replace hundreds, possibly thousands, of plastic bags over its lifetime.

"Keep them handy around the house and in your car, and they’ll be ready when you need them," he said. "Every time you use a reusable bag, it’s one less plastic bag to get rid of."

We do not have to wait for the Reusable Bag Campaign to begin. Begin today to be a responsible consumer by selecting products that do not add plastic waste to our environment.

Cohabitating Couples

Most of the time when we think about cohabiting couples, we imagine younger adults who living together before they get married or instead of marrying. Suzanne Smith, University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, notes the 2000 Census data indicates there are more than a million individuals over the age of 50 who are cohabiting. The number cohabitating couple is likely to continue to increase, as baby boomers reach their 50s and 60s.

A recent study conducted by researchers from Bowling Green University used data from the 2000 U.S. Census data and the 1998 Health and Retirement Study to find out more about older cohabiting adults. In contrast with young cohabiters, who tend to live together before they marry, about 90% of older cohabiters were previously married.

In addition, this research compared older cohabiters with individuals who were remarried, divorced and never married. Older cohabiters, especially women, appeared to be more disadvantaged in some ways. They had lower incomes and were less likely to own their own homes when compared to remarried persons. Additionally, cohabiting women’s income was only about two-thirds the income of remarried women and cohabiting women were three times less likely to have health insurance. Cohabiters were more likely than remarried couples to use alcohol. And, they scored lower on social relationships, such as having friends living nearby.

There are still many unknowns about older cohabiters as this is a relatively new phenomenon affecting large numbers of people. However, researchers are already exploring the strengths and weaknesses of these new “families” and how men and women choose to share their later years.

Adapted from “Older Couples Living Together, University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, February 1, 2007

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Updated 5-29-07 Carleen Jeannotte