Okay bear with me, there will be artsy crafty goodness at the end.

I try to be eco-friendly. I really do. Not in a trendy, “Ooh it’s so fashionable to be green right now!” but in a “I’d like my children to have a planet when they get old” kind of way. As cute as all the new reusable shopping bags are, I have only bought one (and only because Boogie Boy wouldn’t leave me alone until I did). I have a perfectly good set of 8, which is generally plenty for every shopping trip. I try to keep packaging in mind when I buy groceries, to add as little as possible to the landfills (this year I switched from juiceboxes to reusable drink containers and large juice bottles for DD’s packed lunches, and grouse when we are REQUIRED to send lunches packed in a brown bag with all disposable packaging and juiceboxes).

I have also stopped putting my produce in a plastic bag when it isn’t necessary. These can be recycled, true, but the order is “Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle” for a reason. Reducing what we use and what we buy is better than contributing to our nation’s rampant consumerism. After all, if I don’t use them until I need them (like for 2 pounds of fresh green beans, or for bean sprouts), then the store won’t run out as quickly and won’t have to buy more as quickly and the factory won’t have to make as many.

I know. I sound ludicrous. But if EVERYONE did it like this, think about how many bags WOULDN’T get used, bought, and made!

Okay, so here’s the rant part. This morning I went to the grocery store. I got a bunch of yummy produce, lettuce, and cilantro, tomatoes and onions, apples, a melon and a mango. I got a bag of cherries, which I left in the bag (it would be hard to corral them for weighing at the register). None of the other produce got put in a bag, it wasn’t necessary.

Apparently the sacker thought differently. I would have thought it was really easy to see that I didn’t want plastic bags, unless it was necessary, afterall I brought reusable shopping bags and I didn’t put my produce in plastic bags. However, the sacker knew better than I what I wanted. So she put my lettuce and my cilantro EACH into a bag, and then put THOSE bags into ANOTHER BAG!! Holy wastage, Batman! What a @#$%^!!

I guess now is the time to whip up some handmade produce bags. I have a bunch of mesh bags from previous produce purchases that I plan on reworking into new produce bags (and one really huge bag from our crawfish boil a couple of weekends ago!). I might also make some muslin bags for getting bulk rice and stuff. Here are some links to others who make reusable produce bags (just to show I’m not some kind of freak! *grins*)
kootsacs
LoveLane bags
Good Earth bags