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the bag lady

confession, I am not very green. I am not even yellow. I want to be. I want to shop at whole foods, recycle and ride my bike to work. Whole foods is too expensive, my town doesn't have a recylcing program, and my bike has had a flat tire for at least the last 2 years. I realize all of these excuses can be amended with only a little bit of effort on my part. I admire my green friends who have composts containers in their kitchen, belong to a local co-op and braved the icky icky world of cloth diapers. I, on the other hand often use paper plates when we have company because I dispise doing dishes so much. I recognize that I am wasteful in most areas of my life....natural resources included. I do occasionally do my part by skipping a shower or wearing dirty clothes.
I do have a pet peeve though and it is shopping bags.
Today I was with my mom and she bought 2 bottles of nailpolish and they put it in this huge giant shopping back. When I rent a movie at Blockbuster ( I know ... join Netflix with the rest of the world) they try to put my movie in a big plastic bag. The other day at the store I bought one small box of pudding and they placed it in a normal size plastic grocery bag. Repeat with fish food at Petco, and pillows at Marshalls. In all of these situations I take my item (or items) out and tell them I don't need a bag. Sometimes they look at me puzzled. Once I saw a clerk actually throw the bag I didn't use away. Like it must have been broken or something.
If you really want to throw off your grocery store cashier, try re-arranging your groceries. You know, putting more than 2 items in each bag. Yes, I still want my meat seperate....but most other things can touch.
Barnes and Nobles wins, they only try to put my book(s) in a bag about half the time.
Last Spring I went to visit a friend in San Francisco. Almost every where I went they actually asked me if I even wanted a bag, to which I happily said no. They tucked my recipet in ( or handed it to me) and I went on my merry way thinking maybe I could fit in with these hip Californians after all.
Going bagless is a win-win for everyone. It is easier to carry 1-2 small items in hand or shove it into my purse rather than a big bulky bag. Chances are this bag is just going to end up in my car floorboard anyways. Stores save money, and mother Earth is a little bit happier.
I try to go bagless as much as possible. I am hoping this will cancel out my love for paper towels, water bottles, cleaning wipes, and disposable diapers.

Comments

spaghettipie said…
little steps is what it takes. i mean, what if everyone in the world chose one less thing they could do without? that would make a huge difference.
Kate said…
ugh..I hate plastic bags..I even use cloth bags when I go grocery shopping...and we recycle as well...and I do almost all organic... no lead lined cans for me...yes it's expensive...I guess I can blame it all on living in Austin right? we don't compost though..am trying to convince my husband we should do that... I agree...start out doing one thing..or do like me and subscribe to an environmental working group blog...that's what freaked me out and got me going on all of it...
anyway...thought about you the other day and was wondering how you are...hope all is well

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