Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Shopping Bags
So you need to go shopping, and need a convenient way of bringing home your prizes? How can we reduce our consumption here? Bring your own bags. Plastic bags that are used once and thrown away, or even used twice (we use ours as trash can liners), both fill landfills for minimal-use material, and use precious fossil fuels to make. Paper bags aren't much better - sure the material is biodegradable and recyclable, but still recycled fibers or (much more likely) trees have to be cut down to make them. Keep a stash of tote bags - you know, you get these from trade shows, you can even buy them as souvenirs from some stores. Some places even pay you for bringing in your own bags, like Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe's.
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2 comments:
Jay,
An even better idea - save your old towels, t-shirts, jeans, etc...and make your own bags. Especially with children - you can make it a family day - let them choose what they want to use. Perhaps denim, or a favorite dress - then you can even make them "kid-friendly" sizes! My son use to cut old jeans up - using different sizes of the legs to make different size bags....even created his own denim hat! Took only 10 - 15 minutes on the sewing machine and voila' it was done! (They make great "sleeping bags" for stuffed animals and beanie babies too!)
Sheila
Sheila, that's awesome! I inherited a sewing machine from my mom that needs to be fixed, but I love it. You know, that reminds me that the US Mint uses denim to make "paper" money, but I don't know how to make sure old denim gets submitted to the plant for processing. I'll see if I can find out and post it here.
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