6:24 PM Fri, Aug 31, 2007 | Permalink
Paula Constantine  Email
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I’m going slightly off piste today, but how we treat the land is a part of gardening. So just play along. The gardeners will be back next week.
I’ve noticed as I walk around my local greenmarket that more people seem to be bringing their own reusable canvas bags.
I love that.
I started bringing my own bags to the supermarket several years ago.
As a work colleague once said “If you’d ever been to the Central Landfill, you’d never use a plastic bag again in your life.”
I can’t make that promise, but I’m trying.
You know what I think would be really great? OK. Take a deep breath here. Because it might be a little scary.
Use your own bags when you shop indoors.
You might think the plastic supermarket bags — the ones people wrap a single pack of gum in and throw out before they’ve even left the store — are free. In some stores, they’re really not.
Because if you bring your own bags — canvas, reused paper, plastic, Barbie backpack, they don’t care — you get a “bag reuse credit” of 3 cents for each one. It’s not going to make you Warren Buffett, but it adds up. And it keeps the bags out of the landfill, and saves all the energy used to make and ship them, which is the important thing.
Most people have a few tote bags hanging around. Old school bags, giveaway bags from conferences, beach bags. Throw them in the car, and they’ll be ready when you are. Even if it doesn't hold 100 percent of your weekly shopping, every little bit helps. And they don't break.
I have even used the “I don’t need a bag” at nice clothing stores. (I have no shame. But I do have some cute skirts.) Surprisingly, a few salespeople have thanked me, saying they “feel bad” about the amount of paper they use, packing garments to their employers' standards in glossy, nonrecyclable bags.
Moral of the story: You never have to take a bag just to be polite.
I even have another radical suggestion, if you can handle it.
Schools. Nobody needs any more wrapping paper. And everyone’s fat enough. No more food.
How about having kids make and sell simple, sturdy canvas grocery bags for a fundraiser?
Learning a little about sewing and a lot about the environment could make the world they grow into a little nicer to live in.
Be sure to take time to enjoy your garden — or someone else’s — this holiday weekend.
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By coincidence, I got some very snazzy and very sturdy "supermarket bag sized" canvas bags today at Whole Foods on Waterman Street.
I rarely get to Whole Foods, since I live in Southern RI, but I have memories of very eco-conscious Whole Foods from when I shopped in the Palo Alto, California store. So I was a bit disappointed that this Providence one does not have the option of cardboard containers at the salad bar as that one does. Instead, plastic, gak. Although it turns out you can go to the prepared foods area and ask for some of their cardboard containers to use at the salad bar.
I wish more local supermarkets had cardboard containers available for their salad bars and deli areas. Apparently people think they will leak or soak thru, but I have never had that happen, even when stuff was stored in the refrigerator for a few days. Even a brief trip thru the salad bar and deli area in Dave's or Stop & Shop can result in a lot of hard plastic.
I have tried to find an online source of the cardboard containers, so I could bring my own. On the other hand, Whole Foods is opening in Cranston at the end of October, and I have to be in that area often enough to make that an option.
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While we're on the topic, RI law apparently requires larger businesses to offer paper bags as options to plastic bags, and CVS and Brooks both flout this law. Why is the Attorney General doing nothing about this? I have complained to the AG's office as well as the CVS and Brooks headquarters and gotten nowhere.
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If anyone goes to IKEA, you can get reusable bags there. They sell reusable bags for .50 each, and they hold the same as a paper bag.. Plus, they now charge you (a nickel, I think) if you need to use one of the plastic bags.. Yay recycling!
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I got several canvas bags from Almac's in Warwick many moons ago and still use them. I have one from Bread & Circus (Whole Foods), one from Dave's, one from Almac's and several that I've picked up free at trade shows over the years. And although I'm against plastic containers as well, I'd be concerned about cardboard. I'd think that foods, especially acidic ones (tomato sauce and many salads) could break down the material, the same as with plastic, and be dangerous to ingest. I don't know what the answer is! Is there such a thing as organic cardboard?
Canvas bags are a great step, but it's like pulling teeth to get people to think ahead and get into the habit of using them.
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I found some great canvas bags at Job Lot ($4.) that are very sturdy and hold a lot. The best part is they don't fall over in my pickup and when I put them down the handles stand straigt up so they are easy to grab. No more produce rolling around in the back of the truck, plastic bags breaking in the driveway or thin handles cutting into my hands! I would use canvas bags now even if plastic wasn't bad for the environment, they're just much more practical.
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I have a gajillion canvas totes accumulated over the years that are perfect for grocery, farmer's market and clothes shopping and I keep forgetting to bring them with me. But I adopted a new rule recently: If I forget a canvas bag, I have to carry everything out in my arms (tricky when I'm on my bike) or BUY yet another bag - that'll teach me!
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