Going Green....Staying Stupid

[Danjo]

It has become trendy now to bring in cloth bags instead of using recycled store bag. Which is fine. I don't think it'll actually "save" the planet but if you think it helps by all means.

However after a few months of observation I have some comments...

1. Buying a cloth bag from us is cool, but do you really think it helps the enviroment to pull the tag off and toss it on the ground?

2. Make sure your bags are large enough to actually hold the groceries you're buying. We have one woman who uses those bible carrying bags for her groceries. They're built to hold one good sized bible or roughly two boxes of Pop Tarts. Getting mad at me because your cartload of food won't fit in 3 tiny bags won't make the physics any more forgiving.

3. Your SUV is probably doing more damage than our bags.

4. If you did happen to get a large enough bag to hold your food and you demand that it be filled to the brim, you need to realize this bag will be heavy. As before, complaining to me won't change physics.

5. Lastly, Don't give me lectures on the evils of our bags. Our bags, both paper and plastic, are 100% recycable. Plus we offer a recycle bin right in the front of the store. So if your really that worried you can take the dump your bags in the bin. I realize bitching at me is easier, but it's also less effective.

[depechemodefan]

I wish people, who always need a bag to carry the books they checked out, would just reuse the bags they brought with them with the books they returned. Geez, how many times do I see a bag they used go into the garbage, and they ask for a new bag.

[retaildrone]

We use the canvas bags, but ours are nice and big. We also do not drive an SUV or throw the tags on the ground....so I guess we are good. lol :P

[calulu]

We use the canvas bags, but ours are nice and big. We also do not drive an SUV or throw the tags on the ground....so I guess we are good. lol :P

I do the same thing, but I've done it for a long time. Cannot stand those cheap sleezy plastic bags and they're a bitch to find a place to take them here in rural America.

[Evil Queen]

I keep seeing those bags in WallyWorld and think "Gee, those are nice." I sometimes consider buying a few because I get tired of throwing out large collections of plastic bags at home.

After a few minutes of thinking about it, I change my mind because you and I and everyone else knows I'll forget the bags when I go shopping.

[justZu]

you and I and everyone else knows I'll forget the bags when I go shopping.

I have a few of those bags. I never remember to bring them to the store, and now I can't even remember where I put them.

[Amethyst Hunter]

I don't mind the plastic bags...I gotta have something to put the cat poop in when I scoop the 'ol litterbox.

I do wish that people would dispose of them properly if they don't want them though. It's not uncommon to see the lone abandoned bag blowing through the parking lot or field.

[Sliceanddice]

i have two large canvas bags three plastic reusable from fresh and easy and other reusable bags, if i saw smart i would also use some of my ikea bags
also some of those 100% recycled are only made out of the factories recycled plastic IE the left over plastic from the first, second third ect presses

[Kogarashi]

When we get too many plastic bags at home, we usually take them to Wal-Mart to put in the recycling bin.

My parents gave us a pair of the cloth bags for Christmas as stocking stuffers. I do like them. I just forget to take them into the store with me (especially when I'm only going for a few items). I don't think they'll "save" the planet, but that's one less plastic bag I have to deal with when I get home.

Aside from forgetting them, though, there's the problem of the cashiers who don't notice, don't listen, or don't care. I stopped in a Wal-Mart recently to pick up a few small items I needed to get. I remembered the cloth bag and thought, "Hey, I don't have to take any plastic home with me today!" So I took the bag into the store with me.

When I got up to the checkout lane, I put my stuff on the belt and set the bag on top, then told the cashier (when it was my turn), "Please put everything in the cloth bag there, thanks."

Cashier nodded at me and said, "Okay," and then set the bag off to the side and put the items he scanned into plastic bags. I just shrugged and mumbled, "Okay, whatever," and grabbed my bag back to put back in my pocket.

The thing that boggles me most, though, is when the cashier finished ringing up my items, he reached for the bag (which was no longer there) and briefly looked confused before telling me my total. Look, sir, I asked you to put the items in the cloth bag." If you planned on putting them in the plastic bag first, then put the plastic bag in the cloth bag, that kind of defeats the purpose.

On my way out, I put everything in the cloth bag and tossed the plastic one into the recycling bin. I might've done it at the register, except that it always bothered me as a cashier when customers would re-bag their stuff right there, as if my bagging skills weren't good enough, and also annoyed me when customers didn't bother to tell me not to bag the items and instead just took the items out and tossed the bag on top of my bagging rack.

[edible_hat]

We take our own bags to the supermarket, mostly because it means less plastic bags to deal with. Also it's good practice for next year when the South Australian government will ban single-use plastic bags. (which is going to cause a lot of SC-related problems)

[Sharsarannon]

I need to get some canvas bags. I collect the plastic ones I use and they are handy for all kinds of household re-uses, typically as liners to small bathroom trashcans, impromptu 'gloves' for cleaning nasty messes like scrubbing out the trashcans, or as trash collecting bags when I clean. They also make great packing material for storing or moving small fragile objects.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

At Target, they now have bags made from recycled plastic bags.

There's a bin in the store you can drop your used bags in, and they take them and fuse them into a tote bag with a fabric handle.

I bought one. It's pretty gosh darn neat...at least I think it is. It's in my car so I don't forget about it.

[Bright_Star]

This going green is a load of B.S. For someone to think that by using a recycled bag instead of plastic when bagging your groceries is going to help the environment is absurd. The damage has already been done & it was done long ago. Best we can do now is to TRY to prevent more damage from happening.

[retaildrone]

The damage has already been done & it was done long ago. Best we can do now is to TRY to prevent more damage from happening.

UM.... That would be why many use canvas bags now.

We typically got about 10-15 plastic bags a week, just in our weekly grocery shopping. More if you count all the other shopping. Using canvas saves at least 520- 780 bags a year. That is a HUGE impact!

[poofy_puff]

I am a bring-your-own-canvas-bag DIVA. There are two things I call myself "diva" about, that and mosquito-repellant. I have taken to using baskets instead of bags recently, and I know that sometimes I can get eccentric about it. AND I know that baggers are there to do their job - BAG.

Having said that, MY pet peeve is when I tell them I don't want a bag, or that I will bag/basket my own (I bought 'em, I want 'em a certain WAY, let me do 'em MYSELF please!), and they say,

"Are you SURE?"

Um, let me examine the inside of my mind for a sec..................

........

........



Yes. I'm 110% sure that I want no plastic and want to do it myself.

The other thing someone mentioned is when they agree to use the canvas bag or basket then bag it in a plastic bag anyway. I will reach into the plastic bag after the first item and put it in my bag, then the cashier usually gets the idea. Sometimes the cashier gets an attitude about it, but most of the time, he or she says "ooops, you wanted it in your bag!"


I might be an SC in these cases, but I'll take the fall for it.