Simple tip: keep your green bags handy

I’m sure that as good greenies you’ve all got your re-useable bags stashed away. It’s hard to avoid picking up a bunch of the standard green bags when you do your grocery shopping these days, and they’re so handy for more than just your groceries.

But do you remember to bring them to the shops? Or do you sometimes end up at the shops on the spur of the moment, without your handy reuseable bag? Then you need to take 10 minutes to get a little organised.

Find all of your reusable bags and pile them up. Then work out what you’d ideally use them for, and when. Finally, work out a place to keep them where you’ll remember to use them. For me, this means I’ve got reusable bags stashed in 3 places:

• 1 green bag and 1 blue insulated bag by our front door, for planned shopping trips
• 3 or 4 more green bags in the boot of the car, for those days where we suddenly end up at the shops
• 1 roll-up bag in my handbag, in case I duck into the deli or a bookshop on the way home from work

Of course, your own situation will be different, but spending a little time on this now can save you a lot of plastic bags later. Or prevent you from buying even more reusable bags next time you’re shopping!