And once again it's Friday. It's also the last Friday of this month. Which: Hooray! Although I feel pretty lucky, winter-wise - I maintain that last winter, which we spent in Honey Brook, Pennsylvania, was approximately one million times worse than this winter in Brooklyn, temperature wise, house-bound wise, the whole thing-wise, I am, like everyone else in the Northern Hemisphere, ready for Spring.

And March is here! Next week, my hubby turns 40. The next day, my little sister turns 29. Guess which one blew me away more. Maybe because I've been busy torturing Bret about his upcoming milestone for a year and so I'm used to it, but more likely because Bret's new decade makes me feel young in comparison. My little sister's last year in her 20s makes me feel ooooolllllld. Either way, next week is a big week. The day after his birthday, Bret and I are headed to Cartagena, Colombia to celebrate a friend's wedding, so I won't be posting Wednesday through Friday. I wanted to, but wrangling a tropical paradise/formal maternity wardrobe (on a budget, natch) has been enough of a challenge, so I decided to just relax and enjoy our trip, rather than try to keep the posts coming.

Is it time to get to today's post yet? Okay, good. So, my sister-in-law launched 2015 with the idea of committing to a different resolution of sorts every month. January was abstaining from sugar and social media, and February marked an attempt to find some sort of crafty hobby (because crafting is so hot right now). Her theory is that anything is possible if you attempt it in small enough chunks - e.g., one month - and I agree. I decided to take a page out of her book and try to tackle a long-time goal of mine, for a month.

Mayor De Blasio's campaign to reduce traffic deaths and injuries to - you guessed it - zero, has this slightly confusing and unintuitive slogan, but it actually works for my goal for this month. I have a vision of zero, guys. For the month of March, I want to see if we can bring absolutely no plastic shopping bags into our home.

We use reusable shopping bags, and we're pretty good about actually remembering them. I'm probably better than Bret at remembering, but I also do most of the shopping, so we definitely have a lower rate of plastic bags than, I don't know, we could. But it's still shockingly high! For starters, New York is stunningly pro-bag, especially compared with our last two domiciles, Washington, D.C., and the Bay Area. In D.C., you actually pay 5 cents per plastic bag you use, the proceeds of which go toward cleaning up the Anacostia River. There is strong evidence that the policy has been successful in reducing the number of plastic bags people use.

In September, California passed a law that would have outlawed single-use plastic bags entirely by this July. (Hooray!). The law would still allow paper bags to be purchased for 10 cents, and would set aside money to allow for production of reusable bags. This LA Times editorial notes that plastic bags make up the second most common source of trash on California beaches, and that only 5 percent (!) are recycled. In response to the law, plastic bag manufactures banded together to pause the law pending the results of a referendum to overturn it. The referendum (if you're not familiar, Californians can actually directly vote on ballot issues through referendums) will be on the ballot in November. (Boo. Stay strong, California).

Hopefully California will lead the way with keeping their actual ban, but even when we lived there six years ago, the general culture in California was that you tried to reduce the number of plastic bags you used. Same in D.C., especially since the tax went into effect more than four years ago. Not so in NYC. No joke, you can get a cup of coffee that will come in a paper bag inside a plastic bag! I frequently tell a cashier that I have my own bags, only so that they can helpfully pile my stuff into plastic bags, which they then carefully place in my reusable bag. Is this really that complicated?

Until now, I'd let that slide, rather than hold up the line unpacking and repacking my stuff. But this month, no more: We are going for zero bags in the house. I have a little plastic bag "organizer," and we're starting it empty on March 1st. We'll see how many it holds at the end of the month.

I anticipate that the hardest change will be takeout and delivery. We order takeout sometimes, and it comes in plastic bags. Though I could possibly show up to pick up food in a reusable bag, I think we'll have to just skip takeout and delivery all together. Given the amount of waste that comes with delivery orders, that's probably the best call. We do also get our groceries from Amazon delivered in plastic bags, but they're large, clear plastic bags, which is actually what NYC requires recyclables to be bagged in, so we've been using those for that, and I'm comfortable making an exception for them. And I'm not including plastic bags like chip bags or other food packaging in our household ban, though I'd like to reduce that too, down the line.

What do you think? Can we actually bring in no plastic shopping bags for a month? Want to join us? I really urge you to. Plastic bags are just a total scourge, period. This is not an issue on which there should be principled opposition. At least, I humbly submit that for your consideration. :) If you want to join, tell us in the comments. If we all collectively have under a certain number, maybe we can have an ice cream or pizza party at the end of the month. You know, like Book It! (Anyone?).

I have faith in us guys. Have a great weekend, and I'll see you Monday!