Saving the World...

Well, lately I have bitten the bullet and begun bringing my own reusable shopping bags with me when I grocery shop.  Let's face it, the benefits of reusable ones are numerous. I bought my first one last summer, it's ginormous by the way, and I use it as a swim bag. It's light weight, folds up super small, so it's like built in carrying capacity when I'm on vacation. I saw that my Disney Movie Rewards could buy them, so I thought, why not. And ordered 6 with my DMR points.  So, I'm gonna break it down with why I  use 'em and some tips too.

• They hold WAY more that any the plastic bags.  Where normally a trip to Walmart would have me making 30 trips to get all the bags (OK more like four trips) in, I can generally get everything I need into 3-4 bags.  Five if I am getting milk or diapers.  Plus, the checkers will load 'em up. No more bags with 1 item in it.  It's like the old school days where one bag is for cold stuff, one for grocery and the other one for toiletries, toys ect.  
• The handles are long enough you can put them over your shoulder. So,say you have to unload and carry a baby, it is SOOO much easier. 
• They're cute. I mean come on, they are.  I'm a little too OCD to have the mishmash of bags like my Mom has. She has one or two from every local grocery store. Aside from my Fresh N Easy bag, all of my grocery bags are green just like this picture.  Plus, the Disney company makes a donation to their conservation program when you buy them.  It's like a double whammy.  
• They are so much more than a grocery bag.  Mine become last minute sleepover bags. Toy haulers. Beach bags and more.
• Finally, NO MORE dozens of crackly wadded up plastic bags to manage.  You see, they other bags frustrated me because you aren't supposed to throw them away, but you can't put them in your recycle bin--which I find ludicrous by the way.  You had to take them to a store to recycle them. 

Really, if I had to guess, I bet I have saved a hundred or more grocery bags since I started using them a few months ago.  It's not a lot, but it makes me feel like I am helping, ya know?

The hardest thing about using them, honestly, is remembering to bring them with you into the store. I keep mine in the trunk and try to pull them out and put them in the front seat so when I get to the store, bam, there they are. 

Secondly, when you purchase fresh meat, or wet veggies, you end up having to wrap them in a store plastic bag first, and that sorta defeats the purpose to me, but whatever. 

Thirdly, on the negative side of this list, is the checkers' reactions.  They always seem so bugged when you DO bring them in. But frankly, your store sells them so suck it up, I'm trying to do my part so don't give me crusties when I bust 'em out.  

So try em.  Everywhere sells them. Target, Fresh N Easy, Sprouts and other stores (not Walmart, they're too cheap) even give you a bag credit (usually 5cents) when you use them. Betcha didn't know that huh?

Next up, I am thinking about getting one of these babies.

A compost bin.  Dang that Curious George, he showed me just how easy it is to make your own soil.(Season 3 Episode 4 Much Ado About Nothing-- I couldn't find it on youtube, but it's a good one.) And since I have it in my head to plant a garden this fall, I need soil!  We had a compost pile growing up. I totally remember the gallon ice cream bucket that we'd be forced to trot out after each meal,to the back corner of the yard and dump on the pile.  Luckily, that was the extent of my composting duties. There were too many Daddy Long Legs back there for me to want to learn more about the whole compost process thing.  Do any of you compost? Just curious.  Now go buy some reusable grocery bags.  You won't be sorry.