KevinC
6480
Hmmm… what if you carried your purse in a bag???
Nesrie
6481
If I carried the purse I carefully selected for my needs in a 99 cent bag designed to just throw stuff in… mmm. I will admit my habits and hobbies certainly don’t put me at the forefront of fashion, but I really do like long straps and a crossbody.
We have the charge for a bag law in Hawaii for a couple of years.
Consequently, I have a large collection of reusable grocery bags. I have noticed that as I collect more and more the odds that one or more will end up in my car definitely increase, and I’ve gotten better about remembering to bring them with me to the grocery store. I’ve probably gone from 25% to 75% usage (and 15% of the time just carry stuff in my hands) usage in the last couple of years. Changing habits takes time. It helps in my case, that I have very ecologically active sister, who as zero trouble shaming perfect strangers much less her kid brother, for destroying the environment and killing sea turtle, whales, monk seals, sea birds and other living things, by using a plastic bag.
Honolulu biz charge $.15/bag. I think the price is less a factor than there are flashing lights for every bag sale, and the fact that your face ends up on big screen TV, alongside pictures of plastic polluted beaches every time you buy a bag. (Actually we don’t do that, but I think it would help.)
KevinC
6483
I could see you kicking off a whole new hipster trend! Nothing says fashion like a burlap sack. Nothing! :)
Nesrie
6484
Haha, too late it’s already a thing.
These are the kind of things that I think of when I refer to granola as an adjective.
Tman
6485
The thing is plastic bags are still used in fresh fruits and veggie areas, so we voluntarily invested in small mesh bags with pull strings. The advantage is you can wash them without taking them out of the bag and then store them in the fridge as well.
Pretty nifty and I was probably using more of those pet trip than the plastic bags for regular groceries.
Nesrie
6486
I have these too! … But it’s a lot harder to remember to bring those along. They’re also a kind of a pain in the ass to wash. Produce is… filthy.
I agree too much work. Of course then, there is my sister who ruses her ziplock plastic bags and puts them on a rack, my BIL built her out of recycled wood, to dry out.
Nesrie
6488
I will also rinse Ziplock bags to a point. The problem is… that plastic will actually degrade over time and develop imperfections designed perfectly to harbor bacteria so reuse is based on what was stored in it before and what will be stored in it later.
Mesh lasts a lot longer. I’ve seen it tear and melt, but I don’t know that I’ve seen it just… degrade outside of being left outside in the yard, say in the sun, holding crayons now melted because that’s what kids do.
I work in Boulder, CO and they charge 10 cents per plastic bag… and I think it is actually enough. For me at least, while the cost is immaterial, it has made me much more cognizant of bringing my reusable bag… and if I forget the bag then I at least make an effort to carry what I can by hand and use fewer bags overall. I really appreciate it because it acts more as a social cue to be aware of ones behavior, not to punish every shopper.
CraigM
6490
Yeah some things my wife will do that for. But things that had direct contact with, say, raw meat?
Yeah, no.
CraigM
6491
Since I do a lot of shopping at Winco, I am familiar, especially since I do a lot from their bulk bins. Cereal, rice, flour, grains, beans, granola, etc.
In fact yesterday I bought 2lb of granola and 1lb of flax seed to put in my plain yogurt for breakfast. I also bike to work every day, unless it is heavy rain. Have a beard, grow my own herbs, forage for wild berries and mushrooms.
So when you use granola as an adjective @Nesrie , I resemble that remark :)
Nesrie
6492
It might be a Pac NW term because sometimes someone says you mean hippy, and I’m like no, not quite like that although I guess maybe it could apply some of the time. Yep, you sound like what I mean when I say granola, and no, it’s not a bad term it’s a… reference to a certain lifestyle and often the clothing/externals that accompany it.
CraigM
6493
Which is where my polo and khakis definitely separate me from the stereotype.
I have conceded somewhat to the area and my work environment by wearing gym shoes at work now.
Company made ones of course.
Nesrie
6494
But are they Khaki capris?
€.10 seems to be working well here (very different life costs, though)… as a start, of course. It only includes bags with wings (handles? what’s the term?), but most of the rest I seem to be able to use for garbage, although I clearly should waste less.
Next year’s EU-wide ban on (most?) fresh food packaging should be interesting.
It’s 8 cents here. Our Target got around it and is using “reusable” plastic bags. They are a heavier plastic and supposedly can be used 100 times.
Not sure what I am goign to do for the cat litter box once I run out of the plastic bags though. I guess I’ll have to buy some.
Since I got my bike, and a basket to put on the back of it, I’ve barely used bags at all for my weekly shop. I do have about half a dozen reusable bags that I accumulated from before, though.
