I am adamant, ADAMANT(!), that no matter where I shop, I bring my reusable bags. I never, EVER accept plastic, no matter the circumstance.
In fact, when our daughter recently had over a hundred boxes of Girl Scout cookies to distribute, I had to find something to put them in for handing them out to our buyers! Part of me wanted to go out and buy reusables to distribute with them, and hey… that probably would have been a great idea!
But what also “gets me” is that I actually WAS able to find plastic bags to use for the cookies, because I had a stash of them. Gasp!… a confession. However, I am pleading ignorance, or a lack of paying attention for having them. I’ve found that if I’m not paying close attention at the grocery store, a cashier will inevitably find something in my purchase that they deem “plastic bag necessary”. Greeting cards, ice cream, my organic chicken… every other week it seems, as I unload the loot, a blue plastic bag ends up staring me in the face and laughing, mocking me and non-verbally (of course!) saying “and you thought you could get rid of me!” I want to yell back “I TRIED!”
I have come to realize that when I hand over my reusables I still need to say “no plastic, for anything, AT ALL… thank you.” If they ask what I would like them to do with my greeting cards, I point out the space between two boxes. If they ask about the ice cream, I assure them it won’t melt before I get home. If they ask about my chicken, I direct them to my reusable with the red tag… if it leaks, I’ll wash it. That’s what it’s for.
I guess our reusables DON’T speak for themselves. And if we miss the opportunity to tell them “No. Plastic is NOT necessary, ever” they may never know.
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
I am fully aware that no, he wasn’t talking about reusable bags(!) but I DO believe that his point was that “our voices really do make a difference.” Speak up… there is no “matter” too small.
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I never even thought about having to really specify that I don’t want any plastic bags, but I forget a lot about even bringing the reusables… I’m bad
Trisha – I didn’t think about it either until the blue bags continued to show up! But keep trying to remember those reusables! Once it becomes habit to put them back in the car when you’re done with them, you’ll never be without… HINT: once you unload them, set the by the door so you trip on them and nearly break you’re neck when you try to leave again!
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