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This site is a member of WebRing. To browse visit here. Thursday, February 01, 2007 "Did you want to return those?" One of the more successful things I've done lately is to almost completely eliminate the use of throw-away plastic bags. I've always hated them, to the point where I had begun taking a fold-down plastic crate with me into the grocery store to hold my purchases. But it wasn't always large enough for everything, and I often had to convince the cashier that I already owned the crate. So I went back to using plastic bags, and saved them for re-use in the car. That at least reduced the number of bags to be disposed of, but did nothing to keep the ones I did use out of landfills, waterways and oceans.I tried string shopping bags, which were fine for vegetables and fruit and other soft items, but not good for schlepping cans and other heavy things. So it was back, very reluctantly this time, to the plastic bags. I already knew that paper bags weren't any better, as far as environmental impact is concerned.Recently I came across the website of Reusable Bags.com, a company that sells all kinds of fabric or recycled plastic bags and containers, stainless steel drink bottles, and other environmentally friendly containers. Among other things, I bought three "cart helpers," canvas bags with rigid handles that fit over the sides of a shopping cart. Fill them up as you walk through the store, and at checkout, the cashier puts the items right back into the bags. Roll them out to your car, and lift them right out of the cart into the trunk, or wherever. In my car,the bags go on the back seat, because Clarence's wheelchair occupies the trunk.I suspected it was going to be an adventure to use them, and I was right. The first time was at a Walmart in the next county. "Uh, ma'am," the greeter called after me as I walked into the store. "Did you want to return those?"I assured her that I did not, and she watched with a puzzled look on her face as I fitted them into the cart. No one else in the store made any comment at all, but the cashier kept trying to put my purchases in the plastic bags on her carousel. I had to tell her multiple times to just hand each item to me after she rang it up, so I could put it back into one of the bags."Are you sure you want to do that?" she asked finally. "Won't it be hard to carry them into your house?"I showed her how the handles allowed you to carry the bags even when they were full to the brim, and she shrugged. "Looks like they'd be too heavy," she said. "I'd rather have more bags and fewer things in each one.""But then you have to throw them out," I pointed out.She shrugged again. Not her problem, it implied. I decided that a busy Walmart at rush hour was probably not the best time to try to educate anyone about plastic bags. My adventure wasn't over, however, as a different greeter at the grocery exit insisted on seeing my register receipt. When he couldn't find my "tote bags" on the receipt, he wanted to know where I had gotten them. I told him the truth, and was finally allowed to leave.The next time I used them was at the supermarket in my town. What a difference. Several customers wanted to know where I had gotten them, and the whole checkout process came to a screeching halt when one of the cashiers called all the others over to look at the bags. For as many customers as I probably sent them, Reusable Bags ought to be paying me a commission. I should add that I also bought six of their reusable sandwich wraps. We've used them for our lunch sandwiches all this past week, and they are great for wrapping anything solid that you would normally put in a disposable bag, such as cheese. I don't think they would work as well for soft vegetables, but for anything with a definite structure, that can be easily wrapped up, they are perfect.Now if I can just figure out how to eliminate plastic garbage bags, I'll be happy. When I'm home all the time, food scraps go into the compost and paper scraps go first into the shredder and then into the compost. I avoid plastic scraps by doing my best to avoid buying anything that comes wrapped in plastic. But when I'm leaving the house early in the morning and not getting home until late at night, it's just about impossible to manage all the tasks involved with composting. Even so, I suspect we throw out far less garbage than most households. But I still feel a guilty pang every time I haul a car load of plastic garbage bags to the dump. So the next step is to work out how to reduce garbage even more than I've done so far. posted by Liz @ 7:13 PM | The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section RSS Feed PERSONAL Send email toliz at life-as-a-spectator-sport.com Home I'm a mother, grandmother, a computer professional, Democrat, Christian. I welcome politely worded comments and email, my spam filter throws the rest away, so don't bother to flame me WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT' "If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart. THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3 KNITTING BLOGS Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits FINISHED PROJECTS -------FINISHED IN 2006------- Peruvian Cap Tutti-Frutti Socks Shelley's Socks Carol's Socks -------FINISHED IN 2007------- Chain Link Socks Baby Surprise Jacket Valerie & Friend Baby Bonnet Rainbow Baby Socks Girls Pixie Hood Mitred Square Heart Red & White Socks Coffee Cup Pot Holder Nubbins Dishcloth Garterlac Dishcloth Suede Booties Kate's Socks Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap Half Thumbless Mittens Red Mittens for Akkol -------FINISHED IN 2008------- SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE -- Blogs and websites -- Causubon's Book Club Orlov Food Storage Made Easy From the Wilderness In the Wake Listening to Katrina Survival Topics The Modern Homestead The Oil Drum Notes from a Hillside Farm -- Mailing Lists -- 12vdc Power Living on the Land Rainwater Refrigeration Alternatives Old Ways of Living POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES The political sites have moved BOOKS I'M READING How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising ARCHIVES February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002 Feedjit Live Blog Stats
One of the more successful things I've done lately is to almost completely eliminate the use of throw-away plastic bags. I've always hated them, to the point where I had begun taking a fold-down plastic crate with me into the grocery store to hold my purchases. But it wasn't always large enough for everything, and I often had to convince the cashier that I already owned the crate. So I went back to using plastic bags, and saved them for re-use in the car. That at least reduced the number of bags to be disposed of, but did nothing to keep the ones I did use out of landfills, waterways and oceans.I tried string shopping bags, which were fine for vegetables and fruit and other soft items, but not good for schlepping cans and other heavy things. So it was back, very reluctantly this time, to the plastic bags. I already knew that paper bags weren't any better, as far as environmental impact is concerned.Recently I came across the website of Reusable Bags.com, a company that sells all kinds of fabric or recycled plastic bags and containers, stainless steel drink bottles, and other environmentally friendly containers. Among other things, I bought three "cart helpers," canvas bags with rigid handles that fit over the sides of a shopping cart. Fill them up as you walk through the store, and at checkout, the cashier puts the items right back into the bags. Roll them out to your car, and lift them right out of the cart into the trunk, or wherever. In my car,the bags go on the back seat, because Clarence's wheelchair occupies the trunk.I suspected it was going to be an adventure to use them, and I was right. The first time was at a Walmart in the next county. "Uh, ma'am," the greeter called after me as I walked into the store. "Did you want to return those?"I assured her that I did not, and she watched with a puzzled look on her face as I fitted them into the cart. No one else in the store made any comment at all, but the cashier kept trying to put my purchases in the plastic bags on her carousel. I had to tell her multiple times to just hand each item to me after she rang it up, so I could put it back into one of the bags."Are you sure you want to do that?" she asked finally. "Won't it be hard to carry them into your house?"I showed her how the handles allowed you to carry the bags even when they were full to the brim, and she shrugged. "Looks like they'd be too heavy," she said. "I'd rather have more bags and fewer things in each one.""But then you have to throw them out," I pointed out.She shrugged again. Not her problem, it implied. I decided that a busy Walmart at rush hour was probably not the best time to try to educate anyone about plastic bags. My adventure wasn't over, however, as a different greeter at the grocery exit insisted on seeing my register receipt. When he couldn't find my "tote bags" on the receipt, he wanted to know where I had gotten them. I told him the truth, and was finally allowed to leave.The next time I used them was at the supermarket in my town. What a difference. Several customers wanted to know where I had gotten them, and the whole checkout process came to a screeching halt when one of the cashiers called all the others over to look at the bags. For as many customers as I probably sent them, Reusable Bags ought to be paying me a commission. I should add that I also bought six of their reusable sandwich wraps. We've used them for our lunch sandwiches all this past week, and they are great for wrapping anything solid that you would normally put in a disposable bag, such as cheese. I don't think they would work as well for soft vegetables, but for anything with a definite structure, that can be easily wrapped up, they are perfect.Now if I can just figure out how to eliminate plastic garbage bags, I'll be happy. When I'm home all the time, food scraps go into the compost and paper scraps go first into the shredder and then into the compost. I avoid plastic scraps by doing my best to avoid buying anything that comes wrapped in plastic. But when I'm leaving the house early in the morning and not getting home until late at night, it's just about impossible to manage all the tasks involved with composting. Even so, I suspect we throw out far less garbage than most households. But I still feel a guilty pang every time I haul a car load of plastic garbage bags to the dump. So the next step is to work out how to reduce garbage even more than I've done so far.
The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section
RSS Feed
PERSONAL
WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT'
"If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart.
THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME
Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3
KNITTING BLOGS
Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits
FINISHED PROJECTS
SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE
POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES
BOOKS I'M READING
How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising
ARCHIVES
February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002
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