Paper or Plastic? How about Neither
It’s no secret that plastic bags are not good for the environment. Here’s the thing, paper isn’t that great either. The great reusable bag push has been on for a while now with many places having banned the use of plastic altogether. None of this is news I know but follow me a bit. You get plastic bags in other places besides the grocery store, right? If a store doesn’t carry plastic then they probably have paper; even recycled paper maybe. If they are really top notch they might hand you a reusable bag with their business logo on it. My beef is this however: How about no bag at all? What if I just carry those three little items out of the store. Slip them into my purse. Or why can’t you put my socks from Target in the bag I sometimes use for groceries? Why do I need a bag for every.single.item I buy?
I can’t tell you the amount of times within the past few weeks that I have been given a weird look or had a clerk make a remark to me over my refusal of a bag. One woman last week looked at me as if I had asked her to smear poop all over her body when I told her to just drop the item in a cloth bag I had in my purse. Or how about when I went to the crunchy kids boutique. She offered me a bag and I said no thanks. Her response was, “But it’s recycled paper. We just got them.” She was truly baffled when I declined a second time. I’m sorry in my head I said I can carry it, thank you, but maybe it came out as, “hey I kick puppies for fun.” I’m ranting obviously and I’m not sure I have a point other than enough with the bags. Unnecessary bags of all kinds. If you use cloth bags at the grocery store then just use them everywhere. Plase don’t say to me, “well that’s different” with a tone of disgust when I say I don’t need a bag for ONE STINKIN PAIR OF PANTS. Phew. I drove here in my planet killer to buy a pair of fat pants made by 5 year olds in a sweat shop using cotton laced with napalm and panda tears. Let me save one bag at least.*ROAR*
Via Envirosax
Tags: Eco-friendly, Ethics, GreenRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Uncategorized
9 opinions for Paper or Plastic? How about Neither
Pays to live green
Aug 3, 2008 at 7:53 am
I’m with you on not taking bags. It just doesn’t make sense to have a bag when you only have a small item. Just as you said, people give you weird looks no matter what store it is that you refuse to take a bag from. I just don’t get it…
Mary
Aug 3, 2008 at 10:02 am
Oh you’re so not alone! I just had to comment on this. Just the other day, I felt horrible for forgetting my reusable bag and had to take paper. Now, I was at a supermarket, but on my way to my car I thought, “If I could carry these four things around the store without a basket, why can’t I carry them to my car without a bag at all?” So that’s the plan now, especially if I have just a few things and/or forget my bag. Good call!
jennifer
Aug 7, 2008 at 12:27 pm
The more popular it becomes to carry reusable bags the more comfortable people will get with the notion of conserving instead of consuming.
Ize
Aug 7, 2008 at 5:14 pm
LOL!!!!
Julie Ann
Aug 8, 2008 at 8:42 am
There will come a day when the strange looks will go away. I shop at Target all the time with my little ones and everyone gets to carry some things out by hand - no bag. The kids love feeling useful and I really don’t care what the cashier thinks.
I am always getting feebie bags from conferences and races I participate in. Now I put them to good use. I have at least one in the car for general shopping and four in the trunk for grocery shopping. If the bagger in the grocery store doesn’t fill those bags to overflowing I let him know it. There is no way I am taking another plastic bag home.
Having said that, my husband is not on the same page at all. He thinks nothing of taking his items in a bag. He even misses having the plastic bags at home to use as liners in the small trash bins around the house. I don’t care about the cashier giving me a look but I do care about my husband not buying in to the whole concept. Has anyone had luck getting their family on board?
Noel Boehm
Aug 8, 2008 at 9:46 am
Well I periodically fight with my husband about the bags and paper towels. We have 18 million multi-purpose rags yet he still reaches for a paper towel. Same with the bags. If they are not right in front of him he will take a plastic bag. I think it’s a mixture of laziness and the fact that he’s so used to it. IT’s a hard habit to break. I just smack him in the head every time I see him do it LOL
Jackie
Aug 9, 2008 at 4:14 am
The whole obsession with not taking paper or plastic bags at stores is highly overrated, usually by the people who go on and on about not accepting bags in stores.
What do you put your garbage in? Garbage bags, right? Well, I don’t. I reuse the bags I get from stores as garbage bags. In fact, I haven’t bought garbage bags in years.
Not taking bags in stores is nothing special unless you *never* use bags anywhere for any purpose at all. If people look at you funny, why do you care if you think you’re doing something so spectacular?
Maybe because what you’re doing really isn’t a big deal but you feel a need to make it into one. No-bag people, get over yourselves!
Noel Boehm
Aug 9, 2008 at 8:54 am
Jackie, It’s not about doing something special. Every bit helps, it really does. I don’t think I’m doing something spectacular, that’s silly. I’m just trying to do what I feel makes sense. I just have a problem when people give me attitude about it. You seriously missed the point of the post. That’s a shame that you feel that an attempt to to carry soemthing when I don’t need a bag has anything to do with ego. I hope you find peace!
Pretty By Nature « Body, Bath & Beauty Blog
Nov 5, 2008 at 4:15 pm
[…] about things outside the beauty world as well, like the recent post I read about shopping bags (Paper or Plastic? How about Neither). Check it out at www.prettybynature.com! Tags: Beauty, Natural, Pretty By […]
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