I sometimes market at a cool little joint called Trader Joe’s. There are a lot of reasons to like it, least of which is their BYOB (Bring Your Own Bag) deal: if you schlep your groceries in your own bag, they’ll enter your name into a weekly drawing for a $25 gift certificate. Hey, $25 worth of groceries sounds like a deal to me, especially since I’m unemployed at the moment.
So when I got to the register today, on Earth Day, I pulled out my screaming yellow nylon shopping bag. The cashier remarked that it smelled good (it was freshly-laundered), and that more people should be bringing their own bags. I expressed surprise at this, on today of all days…what was the world coming to on Earth Day if people couldn’t for ONE DAY bring their own shopping bags? That’s when she said, “yeah, one woman said she hadn’t won the weekly drawing, so she had quit bringing her own bag.”
Oh, for climate change’s sake. This Valley Girl missed the entire point of bringing a reuseable bag with her. I’ve been bringing my own bag with me now for two years to Trader Joe’s, writing my name every time on a little ticket stub, and throwing it in the mouth of the Kon Tiki god perched on the manager’s bay – and I haven’t won yet, either! I don’t claim to be the smartest kid on the block, but even I connected the dots on this one.
So here’s to all of you who did something for the good of the planet today; I think we have a right to feel smug and superior today because of our collective effort. We won the Trader Joe’s contest, figuratively-speaking.
Love this blog I’ll be back when I have more time.
Welcome back, Blogoline! I love this post. For crying out loud indeed. What are people thinking about all these petroleum products anyway? Today I stopped at the market on the way back with Eli from his daycare (hoikuen). We got about 6 small things, and I realized that I did not have a bag with me—AWK!! Suddenly I remembered….there was a used bag in Eli’s backpack on the bike! Whew! Saved from the shame of not having my bag, and from having to fork out dough–that’s right, they charge good cash money at some shops here now–for a bag!
Earlier today, I was in another import shop, and was pleased to see the older lady in front of me had her eco-bag (as they are called here…alternatively called “my-bag”). I then realized how many older ladies carry their own bags out of habit. We need to listen to those ladies!
Are we the only people who think about this? If you could see the amount of wrapping and plasticizing that goes on here, you would have a double cardio-something. These days is does not faze me to pull out an old, crinkled, three-times used grocery bag from the depths of my purse and tote home my stuff, even in the swankiest of Tokyo shops. Sometimes I fantasize about going down to the local mart with a handful of extra bags and just handing them over to people who did not bring their own. A kind of reverse Robin Hood! But the truth is, I need those extras now. I am doing too good a job of reducing them but sometimes you need one for the dirty shoes or to haul some recycled wet thing around….anyway, I digress. Good post. Thought about posting it on the bulletin board at TJ’s??
“I went to the store. I bought a wastebasket. The cashier put it in a bag. I brought it home. I took it out of the bag. I crumpled up the bag and tossed it in the wastebasket.” Lily Tomlin
Found on the following website, for those of you who are looking for some fashionable shopping bags with a touch of activism…all hail the reusable bag!
http://www.reusablebags.com/
I love this blog!