One of the best things about our new house is our proximity to Wegmans, the greatest grocery store ever. It's about a 6-minute walk so when I don't have a ton of stuff to get, I walk. It's good for me, it's good for the air, and I can avoid the road rage & parking lot stupidity. It's finally getting to be nice here in Western New York, but walking in the winter is going to be a problem. We'll just have to see how it goes.
I actually just walked there for a few things. I've noticed that a lot more people are shopping with their own bags. Wegmans has their own line of bags which are displayed at the checkout lines, and it's primarily these bags that I see people carrying. We have a few, but I also purchased a 5-bag set from envirosax (I got the Flora series) and I like them a lot better. I think they're made really well and they hold a lot more than it appears they can hold.
But then there are the people who buy one item and walk out with it in a plastic bag. I want to shake them. That is so wasteful! Especially when it's another bag. I saw a woman today carrying a bag of hamburger buns in a plastic bag. That's just redundant!
My husband used to be one of these people. He's learned to politely refuse a bag when he has just a few things he can carry on his own. I keep bags in my car, and he did for a bit but he forgets to put them back in the car after he brings them inside. I do most of the grocery shopping now, so it's ok.
There's a local place called Lori's Natural Foods, that takes 25 cents off your order if you bring your own bags. I love Lori's, but unfortunately after moving we're about 25 minutes away. There's a chain that's relatively new here called PriceRite that charges you for plastic bags. I read recently that in Australia they charge for bags, and I think it's a great idea. That would certainly be an incentive to get people to carry their own.
Next step will be getting produce bags. Thank you to Heather at thegreenestdollar.com for this! I had no idea until I read her blog, which is full of great ideas.
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4 comments:
What would you do if you saw someone walking out with a bunch of plastic bags inside of one of the eco bags?
you know there are also a lot of organizations that recycle plastic bags ... here in Brooklyn there are little recepticles in the parks where you can put them so people with dogs can use them to clean up after their pups : )
OMG I love those envirosax bags... cute and responsible! I may have to get one of the kid ones for Reed to start using. We have a ton of the Wegman's bags already, but when they start to break/wear out, I'm all about getting a set of the envirosax bags for me to use! (I do have to say, there are times when we do have to use a plastic bag or two at Wegmans, but we reuse them for Dakota's ummm waste...) ~Michelle
Occasionally I don't catch the cashier fast enough to decline a bag if I only have one or two items, so we do have a few. Ryan takes his lunch to work in them. Then I try to recycle them at Wegmans by the can & bottle return.
Brooklyn, that's such a great, creative idea for reuse! Good for your borough!
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