Paper bags don't take 500 years to decompose. Plastic bags don't result in deforestation. What's the best option? B.Y.O.B.

I didn’t need another bag. Then I really started thinking things through and realized that if I was ever going to take my infant daughter outside of the home I would need a dedicated bag filled with her stuff, and that instead of just any old bag lying around, I would benefit by one designed with a baby in mind. I didn’t think about ergonomics, environmentalism or green purchase power, I just bought the first one that wasn’t too ugly. But when looking for a diaper bag for my pregnant friend I began searching for one with some ecological merit. And boy, did I hit the jackpot!

Earthpak makes bags for all ages and needs in Muenster, Texas, from recycled soda bottles. The proprietary material is made in an environmentally conscious way: soda bottles are ground into pellets, then processed into a yarn that is then woven into a very durable fabric. Even better, earth friendly dyes are used.The bags are super strong, very comfortable, and really nice looking, to boot.

More of your car could soon avoid the landfill, thanks to developing technologies to recycle various types of plastic used in cars. Up to 80 percent of the materials that make up cars is currently reused or recycled, but researchers hope to boost that number soon.

According to the web site Environmental Science and Technology Online, a program at the Argonne National Laboratory is testing new ways of sorting, separating, and extracting various forms of plastics so that they can be used to make new products.