It starts with a standard question asked at many grocery stores, “Paper or plastic?”

Then the beat kicks in.

Soon, there’s a rapper and then a singer at the grocery store. Folks start dancing. And, even though the music sounds like the Jay-Z and Alicia Keys cut "Empire State of Mind," it actually is a parody. But it is a parody with purpose.

Now, the video spoof is a YouTube hit.

Local Bay Area environmental group Green Sangha are the creators of "Plastic State Of Mind - Parody with Purpose" - a not-quite three minute music video that uses humor and a well-known pop song to highlight the growing problem of plastic bag use.

So far, the video has received more than 47,000 hits on YouTube since Nov. 16. It is written and directed by Ben Zolno, who said he’s excited by the response the video has generated.

“It’s got this universal appeal,” said Zolno, who has worked for 15 years producing videos and documentaries. “Some people have said to me, ‘I’ve played this video over and over again.’”

The video came together in a series of moves aimed at putting together something different and unique, said Linda Currie, an executive committee member at Green Sangha. She said her organization knew that it wanted to create a campaign with music. Then, someone on the volunteer staff came up with a rap. From there, the group went to Zolno, an experienced filmmaker. He found a beat, added more to the rap to make it catchy and a YouTube video was born.

“Music is a powerful vehicle for change,” Currie said. “And we were thinking about how we could make something that was effective, but also fun and lighthearted.”

What’s also exciting members of Green Sangha is that the video’s audience is growing outside of the familiar green/environmental corridor.

“People have said that it’s opened their eyes to how bad plastic bags are,” Zolno said.

The video parody is part of Green Sangha’s "Rethinking Plastics" educational campaign, ongoing since 2006. The group is hoping the video will raise awareness about the hazards of plastic. Members believe the world is addicted to plastic - especially plastic bags.

According to Green Sangha, shoppers worldwide are using 500 billion to one trillion single-use plastic bags per year. As a result, more than 100,000 marine mammals and turtles, one million seabirds and countless fish worldwide are killed by plastic rubbish each year.

Locally, an estimated three million barrels of oil are required to produce the 19 billion plastic bags used annually in California, the group said.

The war against plastics has been heating up in the last few years.

In 2007, San Francisco became the first city in the United States to ban plastic bags from supermarkets and grocery stores. Oakland passed a similar measure that same year, but the law got tangled up in court before it was struck down. Last week, however, Los Angeles County banned plastic bags. The ordinance will cover 1,000 stores in unincorporated areas.

For more information about banning plastic bags, click here.

CREDITS & LYRICS

Ben Zolno - Writer/Lyricist/Director/Bag Boy/Editor

Glenn Sauber - Shopper
AshEl Eldridge - Rapper http://seasunz-and-jbless.bandcamp.com/
Jenni Perez - Singer
Bex Kanengiser - Cashier
Many awesome Green Sangha volunteers - Shoppers

Amy English - Production Coordinator, AD
David Nakabayashi - DP
Harrison Pierce - Consultant, Animatic, AC
Bo Cox - Camera Op
Seneca - Rap Recording Engineer
Colin Menzies - Working Music Track
Amurai http://bit.ly/amuraipsm - Final Music Track and Mastering

Sponsored by
Good Earth Organic - http://bit.ly/goodearthorganicpsm
To-Go Ware - http://bit.ly/togowarepsm
Chico Bag - http://bit.ly/chicobagplastic
People Towels - http://bit.ly/peopletowelspsm
Sponsorship Coordinator - Carrie Staller sustainablesales at g mail dot com

LYRICS
Shoulda brought your own bag
Yeah but you forgot it though
You were busy dreamin of ice cream and
all that cookie dough

Your life is wrapped in plastic
Convenience is your motto
But plastic addiction's worse
than they want you to know

BP's oil spill
Almost like we did it -
We use one million grocery-bags
every single minute

Recycling them's a joke yo
That baggie don't go anywhere
It turns to little pieces
and then it spreads over everywhere

Into your food supply
Into your blood supply
Not to mention birds and fish and
Cuties you don't wanna die

Just look at baby Sammy
Dioxins in its milky way,
cuz even her breast milk it's got
PCB and BPA

OK now you get it
How you gonna stop it though
Banning Single Use Plastic Bags
is the way to go!

Join other states and cities
Kick the nasty habit
Tell your representatives
Ban single-use bags made from

Chorus:
Plastic
Fossil product all your crap's made of
There's one thing we can do
Ban bags made of plastic
Skip the bag, the cup and spork dude
Convenience will kill you
Ban single use plastic toxic bags


Bridge:
Sustainably we go forth and save our cities
Bringing your own bag and forks and bottles should be easy
But corporations selling toxins bought the government
Stand together for yourself, your kids, the planet sayin'

Yeah, yeah,
Ban single-use bags made of

Chorus:
PLASTIC
Fossil product all your crap's made of
There's one thing we can do
Ban bags made of plastic

Bring your own don't you forget dude
And let your reps know too
Ban single use plastic toxic bags!