In the bag: Retired volunteer takes small steps toward big change

AMY BLACKWOOD

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Though she attended the University of California, Berkeley in the 1960s, Phyllis Shacter doesn't consider herself an activist. Her actions, however, suggest otherwise.

Since retiring from her careers as an educator, sales account executive and business consultant, she has self-started numerous "volunteer projects" including a campaign to reduce plastic bag usage in Whatcom County. She works vigorously to educate the public on plastic alternatives that provide sustainable solutions.

"We have options," she says. "We can recycle plastic bags, we can use biodegradable bags, we can use cloth bags. But we can't keep doing what we're doing now."

DANNY GAWLOWSKI | DANNY GAWLOWSKI THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

ECO PROFILE

Name: Phyllis Shacter
Age: 62
Occupation: Retired
Mode of transport: Subaru Outback
Average fuel bill: $40 per month
Eco-cheat: "I occasionally take a hot bath, knowing that it's a waste of water, not necessary and very luxurious."

Shacter has reduced her own waste to virtually zero percent by recycling and reusing and strives to someday re-create the resource-sharing commune lifestyle she experienced after college. She and her husband, Alan Alberts, live in Bellingham and have one child and two grandchildren.

Favorite green Web site: "I have many, but I especially love YES! magazine" at .

Pet peeve: How long it takes for change to occur.

Personal eco-victory: Initiating a project to dramatically reduce plastic bag usage in our city and county.

Best tip: "Keep your re-usable grocery bags in the car. If you forget to grab them, go back and get them. Very soon, you'll remember!"

Turning point: "Turning point: Attending the symposium "Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream" (www.awakeningthedreamer.org).

First step: Became a vegetarian/vegan in 1971.

"I spend time in nature almost daily and know that I am the Earth, air and water, just like everyone. So if I hurt the Earth, I hurt myself."

MAKE YOUR OWN SHOPPING BAG

Here's how Phyllis Shacter of Bellingham makes non-plastic bags for bagging produce at the store and storing it in the refrigerator.

Materials: 1 yard unbleached muslin or organic cotton, makes three bags

Directions:

Cut out three pieces of muslin, about 14 inches by 15 inches each.
Fold each piece in half with the fold at the bottom. Sew a 5/8-inch seam on the two remaining raw sides.
Finish off the top edge by folding down and stitching a hem seam around the top.

"I am not a seamstress," says Shacter, but "it took me less than one hour to make three bags."

If people prefer, she says organic cotton is available at Fabric-Etc in Bellingham, www.fabric-etc.com.

If unbleached muslin is used, Shacter recommends washing the bags with about � cup white vinegar to remove pesticide residue from the material.

She launders the bags "about every three times that I use them. They are durable and very handy."

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