Save the Plastic Trees
It never really fails. Walmart that is… I go in for a few items and leave with a few head shakes and a laugh. I try to avoid going there, but sometimes, I am lazy and to save time, money and gas, I dive in and then walk out saying it’s the last time. This was the case the other day. I needed material, plants, and a new shower liner. Where else can you get all these items in one place? I saw the usual suspects and was quite impressed that my quick visit was so uneventful. As I checked out with the garden cashier she commented on my canvas bag. She complemented me on bringing my own and mentioned she had a few other customers that do the same. I was so happy to hear that other people were cutting back on the plastic bag epidemic, that I almost missed her next comment.
“trying to save trees, huh?”
“uh- well, kind of. I mean plastic is really difficult to…”
“well, that’s nice but all those trees are getting burned down, so it doesn’t make any sense to do this (as she picks up my bag) does it?”
“huh?” (literally in shock)
Does this lady honestly think that these plastic bags come from trees*? When she first mentioned the trees I just thought she was referring to “saving the trees - tree hugger” type of comment. I am not sure if she was just really stupid and ignorant or what? And furthermore, if all these trees are burning down, shouldn’t we try to save those which we still have? Honestly I am still boggled over the entire exchange.
On the flip side, I went to my local Sweetbay this weekend and after spending over $200 in groceries, I packed all my item,s besides my eggs (put those in a canvas bag), into my new bags and got many positive comments. The nice teenage cashier was even so impressed with my 2 bags that she got all the information on them so that her mom could order a set for herself. I had several customers come up and ask me questions and comment on how cool these bags were.
SO, check them out. They are a great price, carry A LOT! and are very sturdy. I would highly recommend them. They make the multiple trips back and forth to from the car to the house a thing of the past.
Moral of these stories? If you break the norm and use canvas or your own bags, be prepared for comments- weird or positive. In the end, though, you can feel good about cutting back on clutter and waste.
*I am aware that SOME plastics can be made from a small amount of wood pulp product.
Update: I have just found out that the origianl link has these bags possibly back ordered. I have found that these appear very similar or these appear to be the same.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Loading ...
11 Responses to “Save the Plastic Trees”
May 22nd, 2007 at 7:37 pm
I just ordered some canvas shopping bags and they are seriously backordered (as in a few months) so clearly others are jumping on the band wagon as well. I am on pins and needles waiting for them, I am so sick of the plastic ones.
May 23rd, 2007 at 7:57 am
I’m pretty impressed how affordable those are and how huge!
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:42 am
Nice post! I have been using the reusable for awhile now.
http://everydayhappeningsofafrugalmom.blogspot.com/2007/03/going-bagless.html
The part that really drew me in with these particular ones was that they can stand on their own just like a paper bag. Making it easier for the cashiers to use them. I purchased mine at reusablebags.com and they have really nice shopping sets available.
May 23rd, 2007 at 10:01 am
I will order some. But what about the trashcans in your home? What do you line them with if you don’t have grocery sacks?
May 23rd, 2007 at 10:08 am
I still use the plastic ones for my trashcans. As I need a few, I get a few from the store. I just try to make sure I don’t have an over abundance sitting around to clutter things up. At some points I had so many they were out of control!
May 23rd, 2007 at 3:35 pm
What we do is not put a liner n the the little trash cans, like in the bedrooms and such and then just empty all the little cans into one big trash bag.
May 23rd, 2007 at 8:52 pm
We do the same thing, frugalmom. Thanks for pointing that out, as when I typed my response I was thinking about this post. http://boogiemum.com/?p=216, and I probably should of be more specific
May 28th, 2007 at 11:30 pm
Hey gal! I’m alive! Oh my goodness have I ever been busy. Lets see I packed the uhaul Tuesday, moved it all over here and unloaded it on Wednesday, started my new job Thursday. Friday after work drove two hours for a wedding rehersal, Saturday was the wedding (all day event), Sunday and most of today I cleaned my whole other house then took a math test and now I am sitting on my couch in my overly crowded living room full of boxes commenting you. and I can barely move any part of me I miss blog land!!
On your blog topic…I have not graduated to these types of bags but I do try to take bags back in to re-use until they cannot hold anymore. Well I didn’t have any of them on me and went into walmart to buy groceries and household items and the lady was putting like two to three items in each bag (which if I would have let her continue would have left me out the door with probably 20-30 bags-not kidding). I kindly asked her if she could shove those bags as full as possible and she gave me the ‘are you freaking kidding me’ look! Seriously….people overuse products such as this so much!
Stay in touch…I’m working on a blog to be posted…stay tuned….
Oh and by the way I am only 30 minutes away from Tahoe now…hint! hint!
Lyns
May 29th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
These bags look great! I might have to order some of them. Thanks!
May 30th, 2007 at 3:26 pm
Wow, these will definitely increase my freak factor. You should see the looks I get when I tell them not to bag certain items. The plastic bags were really starting to get to me. Thanks for the plastic tree saving tip!
June 8th, 2008 at 9:13 am
Sunday I was searching for blogs that were related to Organic Grocery Bags and specifically canvas bag. I found your site and appreciate the content greenwithenvyorganics dot com