Designer canvas bags: not for me but if they inspire someone else to cut back on or stop using plastic bags, that‘s great!
Non-designer canvas bags: absolutely.
Am I using them now? Ummm. Ask me again in a week.
First a little background: I was invited to be one of Fox 5 Atlanta’s “FOXe Bloggers” because, as my assistant news director describes me, I am one of the greenest members of the news team. I recycle as much as I can at home and at work. I’m also the one going around the newsroom, turning off lights and TV’s when they aren’t in use.
That said, I’m embarrassed to admit that I have yet to implement the use of canvas bags in my shopping routine. Yes, I choose paper when I have the option. Yes, I recycle the plastic bags that I do bring home. But I can certainly reduce the number of bags that even need to be recycled by investing in some reusable bags. It’s on my list of things to do this week.
But I also need to take it a step further, as I learned in a recent visit to my favorite local market with my friends Jesi and Kathy. Not only did they bring reusable bags to carry their groceries home, they also refrained from using any of the plastic bags that you see in the produce section of every grocery store. They put their selections of fruits and vegetables into the cart without a bag, then placed them on the checkout stand in a group so that the cashier could put them on the scale at the same time and ring them up.
Since then, I’ve become more aware of the number of produce bags I use when shopping. I had always tried to keep my use of those bags to a minimum since I never used one for a single item. But I would use one when buying two or more pieces of the same kind of produce. Now I realize that I don’t need them much at all. If I'm buying cherries and brussel sprouts, yes. If I'm buying apples, onions and potatoes, no. As a result, the number of produce bags that I use and recycle has dropped dramatically.
Next task: getting some canvas bags to reduce (or perhaps even eliminate) the number of grocery bags that make it home. I’ll let you know how that goes.
