Because if I can’t do it on my own blog, where can I do it?
This is the first week that I used reusable bags for my entire grocery shopping journey. (Because I am becoming An Old, grocery shopping means I go to Target and then to Acme instead of meekly accepting whatever crap produce Target has in stock.)
I had the bags for a long time but I never went through with it. Why?
Imagined obstacle 1: I was waiting until I found the perfect set of reusable bags. My bags are from a plethora of stores (the Froot Loops one is from Atlanta Pride!) and they’re all different sizes. In my mind, I wanted the best set of attractive, uniform, brand-free grocery bags I could find.
Reality 1: Nobody gives two craps what your bags look like, as long as they work. And the best bags are the ones you’re actually going to use.
Imagined obstacle 2: It’s awkward telling the cashier that you want to use your own (fugly) bags.
Reality 2: Put the bag at the very front of the conveyor belt and they’ll know what you want without you asking for it.
Actual obstacle: I’ll never remember to bring the bags into the store with me. Like I never remember to use the stainless steel straw in my purse.
Reality: Yeah. That takes time. Now what I do is bring the bags right back out to the car after unpacking. Another thing that helps with that is I’ve started taking most of the plastic bags we accumulate each week to Target to recycle. Since I have bags on the brain, I bring the plastic bags AND the reusable bags in with me.
Also, did you know you can drop off many types of plastic bags at Target, including Amazon plastic mailers? YES, YOU CAN. This link will blow your mind.
Why do I do this? Because I am tired of trash in trees, in drains, in rivers, and storm drains. I’d like to see a world with less garbage … to see a world for once all standing hand in hand. And hear them echo through the hills for peace throughout the land.
(that’s the song I hear)
Yes! I love this! Such a great change to make. Toot away.
You’d be surprised how quickly you’ll get used to it. Our government brought in a 10c levy on plastic bags years ago back in 2002 and so you can still get plastic bags in shops but in reality most people reuse “bags for life” and although occasionally I forget to bring them along I don’t think I’ve paid that levy in a long long time. It’s since gone up, I think its 22c now.
Storing the bags is the biggest hassle, I usually try and put them all back in the car boot, but over the years I have amassed quite a collection of them.