Brian Mulligan, left, talks with artist Scott Griessel during the opening of his exhibit at Rainbow Planet Coffee House. The exhibit features photographs of plastic bags littering Tucson and surrounding areas.

Jill Torrance / Arizona Daily Star

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A Green Valley couple has begun a grass-roots movement to dig Tucson out of a mountain of plastic bags.

The inspiration for the One Less Bag Project came on a brilliant spring day last year when Anna Harrison Griessel and Scott Griessel were driving south of Tucson, enjoying the beauty of the Sonoran Desert.

"We love the desert," said Anna, 43.

But upon further study of the scenery, ugliness emerged.

"It was windy. We noticed all these bags hanging from mesquites, stuck on cacti, sucked into chain-link fences. We came home, got our cameras and ran into the desert to take pictures," Anna said. "It was ghostly, yet you look closer and it's trash. It's not a ghost; it's a Bashas' bag."

The One Less Bag Project is something that the couple, both filmmakers and photographers, have been thinking about since that day.

Their aim is not political. They are not trying to inspire a law like San Francisco adopted, banning the use of plastic bags in grocery stores. Rather, they are hoping to provoke thought and encourage people to make changes on their own.

"In some way, I think we've learned to edit plastic bags out of the landscape — we might look at the desert and think it's really beautiful, but not see a bunch of plastic bags," said Scott, 46.

Scott documented the plastic bags marring the desert in a series of photographs that are on display through the end of August at the Rainbow Planet Coffee House on North Fourth Avenue. The couple also has created a Web site with tips about how to reduce plastic bag use.

"The idea of photographing them was to remind people that the bags are there," he said. "In one tree there were seven bags. It looked like a Christmas ornament. I happened to be next to a supermarket parking lot, and they were out of control. I don't think people want to litter. But the bags are light, and they blow away."

Producing plastic bags actually uses less energy and water than producing paper ones. And plastic bags also generate less air pollution and solid waste, and take up less space in a landfill than paper, the international Worldwatch Institute reports.

The problem is that so many plastic bags never make it to the landfill and instead get caught in fences, on cacti, on trees and in the throats of wildlife, particularly birds. They also clog gutters, sewers and waterways, and kill marine life.

"With more awareness, maybe we wouldn't need a ban — if people would just reduce their use it would make a difference," Anna said.

Tucson attorney Roy Martin said he switched to reusable bags at the grocery store a few years ago at the suggestion of a girlfriend. He mostly shops at Trader Joe's and says the store encourages reusable bags, which he appreciates.

"I was using plastic before, only because I wasn't paying attention," said Martin, 45. "The waste issue is so huge, it's probably bigger than we can address individually, but raising consciousness is really important."

Tucson nurse Rebecca Perry's only question is why it has taken American society so long to wake up to the benefits of reusable bags at the grocery store.

Perry, 40, says she has been bringing her own bags to the grocery store for about 10 years. She recently watched an episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" that focused on reusable bags and was both pleased and a little frustrated.

"I was glad she was doing it, but this is not a new concept," said Perry, who stopped by Rainbow Planet to see the One Less Bag photo exhibit last week. "Reusable bags are actually much easier to use. You can fit more into the bag, and the handles don't cut into your hands like the plastic ones."

She loves the Griessels' approach to tackling the local problem.

"It's a fast and easy way for people to pause for a moment, and remind themselves that it's not a hard thing to do, and it's a good thing," Perry said.

She would rather not see a local ban on plastic bags. "We have too much legislation about common-sense things," she said. "I'd rather see people here do this of their own volition."