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ECOTIP #2: Carry your own shopping bags. Whether reusing old bags or better yet, carrying cloth, refusing a plastic bag at the checkout counter will help cut down on the 100 billion plastic shopping bags Americans consume each year. If you think paper is any better, you're wrong. Paper and plastic bags are near equal contenders in having harmful effects on the environment. There's a wide variety of stylish cloth bags on the market now and some markets offer minor discounts for using your own.

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