Environmental activists dressed head-to-toe in hundreds of plastic bags turned heads in downtown Dallas on Friday morning.
The group led by environmental activist Andy Keller wants cities across the country to ban the use of plastic bags and put a fee on the use of paper bags.
About a dozen people shuffling and crunching along in a tight herd drew strange looks as they made their way from the Dallas Farmer's Market to City Hall.
"That's right, we're the bag monsters," Keller said.
Dallas once considered banning plastic bags, but the measure did not pass. But the Bag Monsters want the City Council to revisit the issue.
"There's got to be a more sustainable solution, and we believe the city of Dallas can be a leader, rather than a laggard, on these sustainability issues," said Jeffrey Jacoby, program director of the Texas Campaign for the Environment.
The Bag Monster gear is comprised of 500 plastic bags -- the number of bags they say the average American uses in just one year.
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"I didn't know that at all," said Dallas resident Marcus Johnson said. "I didn't know that at all. I'm actually blow away by that."
"I can't imagine we use that many grocery bags, but, I mean, we have a lot at home, so I guess so," said Juanita Rivers, another Dallas resident who saw the protesters.
The Bag Monsters said they've done their job if their protest at least taught skeptical on-lookers something and encouraged them to pass on plastic.
"We just use way too much plastic in our world, so the goal is just help people understand how much we're using, and any action to reduce that waste is a good action in my book," Keller said.
The Bag Monsters' tour will take about a month, ending in New York City on Sept. 15. Keller started the journey in San Francisco on Aug. 12, home of the state that could be the first to ban plastic bags.
More: www.bagmonster.com
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