Using green bags
Last week we actually remembered to take our green re-useable shopping bags with us when we did our grocery shop! Dave took a picture to celebrate the occasion.
Normally we’re pretty good at making green changes, but this one has been an uphill battle for us. We’ve tried leaving the bags near the door or keeping them in the boot of the car, but we always seem to remember just after we walk into the shops. Which green action are you trying to get better at?
October 12th, 2007 at 8:32 pm
I think the key is to just get started because it’s a self-perpetuating habit. Once you get accustomed to not having handles dig into your hands or bags break, or having to use more bags than necessary you will never forget them - it would be like forgetting your wallet!
October 14th, 2007 at 6:55 pm
When we remember them, I love them so much - they’re stronger, they hold more, and as you say they don’t cut into your hands. I can even get the Coles brand ones over my shoulder to keep a hand free, because the handles are longer. I always regret it when I forget, and curse the plastic bags I come home with
October 15th, 2007 at 2:08 pm
I tend to “forget” mine on purpose a lot. I agree that they are better bags, hold more, don’t cut your hands, etc. But I re-use the shopping plastic bags as bin liners, so I don’t buy more plastic bags to line my bin. Does anyone have a better (and equally free) solution to this? I don’t want to have to buy more plastic bags to stick my scraps in, but I also hate relying on shopping center bags which still eventually go into landfill.
October 15th, 2007 at 2:12 pm
Yeah, it’s hard to know what to replace the plastic-bag-as-bin-liner with - I’ve seen these biodegradable bags sold online (here and here) and at the One Earth shop in Balcatta, but haven’t tried them myself yet.
October 15th, 2007 at 2:25 pm
When we get a backyard I might have a crack at composting, which should cut down on some of the waste. I might have to check out that shop in Balcatta too. Thanks for the links.
October 15th, 2007 at 8:26 pm
There’s biodegradable bags just in the bin liner/garden bags etc section of the normal supermarket too (at least there was at my local Woolworths…). OK, you have to pay for them, but sooner or later you’ll have to pay for the now-free bags at check-out too (as is already the case in Europe), so you might as well actively choose to buy enviro-friendly ones.
Anyway, I found even using the green bags that I inevitably picked up other plastic bags that could be used as bin liners eg from clothes or book shopping. The other alternative, of course, is just to ask for one or two plastic bags at check out; that way you get what you need but are not putting the entirety of your groceries into plastic for the sake of getting the few plastic bags you actually need.
As to the green action I am trying to improve on…well, no recycling here so I am trying to get better at a) buying things with less packaging (eg choosing a plain tin over a tin that comes in a cupboard wrap-around, b)
making things from scratch so I don’t have buy jars and packs of things in the first place, and c) re-using what I do end up with (eg re-using jars to hold homemade tomato paste).
October 15th, 2007 at 8:47 pm
Also, we had the same problem you do with either leaving the green bags at home or in the car: if you have a hook near or on your front door, try hanging the bag off that to make it visible; if that still doesn’t work, keep your keys and wallet in it. Won’t take long before you get the habit and it becomes second-nature.
October 15th, 2007 at 10:42 pm
Ah - I think you’ve found my solution! Keys in the bag would work really well for me, I reckon!
October 16th, 2007 at 9:10 pm
I am pretty used to taking my own shopping bags, as in The Netherlands you have to pay for plastic bags for already a very long time, I can’t even remember that they came for free. You also had to pay extra for bottles which you got back when you returned to the shop so you not only left with full bags but also went with full bags
I try to improve my thing in the green bin; unscrew the caps when I put them in the bin, I am so used to close everything… and apparantly you need to put in the bottle seperate from the lid/cap…
October 17th, 2007 at 1:07 pm
Sounds like the Netherlands has it sussed
Thanks for the info Wendy, I usually go to Coles but it’s been ages since i even looked at bin liners, so I’ll check it out next time I have to drag myself to the supermarket.