Well, one day into my no-bag challenge and I failed. But it's not my fault. You see, every time I went into a store, I brought my own bag. Yesterday, my last stop was the grocery store. I wasn't sure how many bags I would need but I grabbed a handful and headed in. All went well until the end of the bagging stage. I realized that a couple of items wouldn't have a bag. The bagger commented he would just put the last items in a plastic bag. Noooo, I said, just pile whatever doesn't fit in the basket as I had more bags in the car. Well, he was a sneaky one. As soon as I turned my back to pay, he plopped two loaves of bread in a plastic bag and popped it on top of the other bags. At this point, I had a dilemma. I could make him take the bread out of the plastic, thus sticking with my no bag rule; or, I could just accept the bag. Well, I've seen what they do with rejected bags; they simply discard them. So, rather than allowing yet another bag to be part of the waste stream, I quietly accepted the bag and left the store. I know that at my house that bag will be used one or two more times before it goes to landfill. I think next time I will have to tell the manager that I will have to stop shopping there if they continue to force plastic bags on individuals who specifically request none. Unfortunately that would be a hardship for me if I carried out the threat. We have little choice in grocery stores in our community. Wal-Mart is the favored store in this area and I won't shop there. Well, that's another story....
5 comments:
Do you think all those plastic bags that I take back to Publix and stuff into their recycling bin really get recycled? I'm getting somewhat cynical about putting the effort into collecting things for recycling only to find out they end up in a land fill too. I'm trying to remember to take my bags everywhere too, and I do find that when I MADE myself go back to the car for them as soon as I remembered no matter where I was in the store, that I started to remember them more often in the first place.
Wanda: I'm very skeptical about the bags being recycled, too. I'm inclined to think it's just more greenwashing. Plus, I think about all the energy that goes into it when and if they are recycled. My goal is to reduce my waste, then reuse, then recycle. And yes, after going back to the car a few times to get my bags, I think I'll have a better memory too!
So much for all my big talk...I left my bags at home today. I should have driven back for them but I didn't. I reassured myself with the idea that I could re-use and recycle the plastic ones. :( Well at least we are trying!
I've actually mastered the remembering part at the grocery store and keep one or two bags that fold or roll up and fit easily in my purser for those times I purchase something at a drug store or other shop (I'm not as good about remembering a bag for those places).
However, today I had a similar experience regarding an unwanted bag. I was at Whole Foods in Tulsa and had brought several bags with me. The cashier thanked me for remembering and gave me the discount for each bag I had brought. While I was getting out the cash to pay for my groceries, the checker put two items in a small paper sack and placed that inside one of the others. I understand her reasoning as those two items included a bottle of conditioner and a box of dishwasher detergent -- non food items that probably shouldn't be in contact with the food. Had I noticed what she was about to do, I would have had her just place them loose in the cart. I didn't, though, and I knew they wouldn't be able to reuse the bag as it was now crumpled. I planned to use it for a lunch sack or something but by the time it made it into the house, it was ripped and not really usable. I'll recycle it with my other papers and try to watch more closely in the future. I don't beat myself up over little mistakes like this.
Wanda and Deanna - thanks for keeping me posted on your no bag efforts. I like to think of "greening" as having a domino effect - you influence one person, they influence another....
I haven't gotten any more bags, plastic or paper, and even left my cart of groceries to go to my car to retrieve my bags. Experts say it take about a month to develop a habit so I'm hoping this experiment is permanent for me.
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