My Recent Conversion

It has been a long road, but I am almost a fully converted reusable bag lady! It all started last year when I was at one of my favorite stores, TRADER JOES!!!! I noticed that they had these cloth bags with the store's logo on it for $4.99. So, being the sensible person that I am, I asked for them for Christmas. (I owe the word sensible to my lovely former boss Theresa, who helped me to describe myself more tactfully when I thought my only options were cheap or frugal.) When my in-laws gave them to me, my apartment had a horrible mold infestation and after I bleached the bags they were torn and stained; completely unusable. So, I lost touch with the reusable bag concept for a little while because I was too che...uh...sensible to buy another set. Then one day as I was filling my 4-wheeled wonder with Sparkling water and Pirate's Booty, I saw them! The shiny red $.99 bags. I grabbed six of them, they were mine and I never looked back. Now I bag my own groceries while the checker is ringing them up and not only do I save time, but I have helped the environment and spared my hall closet the never ending pile of plastic bags. I have also found similar, but larger bags at IKEA which are much prettier and great for transporting larger items. The biggest challenge is getting in the habit of putting them back in the car after you use them and remembering to take them with you into the store. Once you can remember those simple steps, you will be well on your way to putting a small dent in the consumption of "500,000,000,000 (that's 500 billion) plastic bags annually, or almost 1 million per minute." Remember, we have to start somewhere...baby steps. For more information visit www.ReusableBags.com