Time now for another episode of Deni's Pet Peeves.
What is it with this damn country and our overuse of all things bad for the environment? This was even more highlighted by my recent trip to Ireland, but has always bugged me even without the most recent comparison to another country. I speak of grocery bags. Mostly the plastic ones, as they seem to be the most used now. I assume it's because they are cheaper. But holy shit, they hand the things out now like candy at Halloween.
This is completely the opposite of my experience in Ireland last month. Whenever we went to the store there, no matter how many things we bought, we were never offered a bag. I can't be sure, but I don't think they even had bags for customers at the stores, because I never saw one. When people there go to the store they are expected to either bring their own bag or be able to carry it all in their arms. This doesn't seem to cause any trouble at all. As an American tourist, you are not prepared for it at first ("OK, I'll put the cookies in this pocket and the cheese in this one and carry the bread and milk...."), but it really isn't a problem at all once you know about it. Buying a lot of stuff? Bring your own bag. Since stores supplying bags never became the norm, no one expects or demands it.
Contrast this with America. In the course of a day, one can buy three or four items and end up at home with 6-8 plastic fucking bags (double bagging is insanely common) that fill up the space underneath the kitchen sink until they are overflowing and then get thrown out with the recycling (hopefully) or garbage (shame on you). And for what? Seriously, ask yourself how many times you've walked home with one or two items in a plastic bag that would have been easy to carry without the bag or throw in your backpack/briefcase/purse. I'll bet it's a lot, right? Most of the time I'll remember to wave off the bag, but so often when I'm buying something I won't be paying attention and forget or not realize until it's too late. Like the other day. I go to the CVS to get toilet paper and a birthday card. While I was paying through the little debit/credit machine I failed to stop the checkout woman from bagging my TWO items. And this is what she did. First, she double-bagged the toilet paper. Now, if you feel the need to double bag a four-pack of TP, you really need to consider the strength of the plastic bags you're buying for you store. And then, this is still mind blowing to me, she put the card in another separate, smaller bag before putting it in with the toilet paper. Because, I guess, you wouldn't want the wife's birthday card to be contaminated by touching the TP packaging. That would just be gross. So after my walk home that takes about a minute and a half, I had two more full size plastic grocery bags and one small "knick-knack" size plastic bag. For one pack of toilet paper and a birthday card. For about a hundred yard walk up the hill to my apartment. Now, of course I should have remembered to stop her before she did it. But, since I was buying so few items, can't she ask me if I need a bag before throwing everything into one? Or three? What the hell was that about? Did she think there was a chance of the toilet paper ripping through the bottom of the bag if she didn't double it? What was it about the TP that made her feel the need to protect the card from it? I mean, I didn't buy pre-owned TP for cryin' out loud. And I know what you might be thinking, that I could have told her I didn't need the bags and given them back to her. I have done that before, but not always a good idea. For one thing, the attitude you get from the clerk is amazing. Most of them will act like you just pissed on their shoes and told them to clean it up. Also, when I've done this in the past, they will take the bags and throw them in the garbage can. So you can't even count on them being used again. Clerks just want the damn things out of the way, they don't give a shit if they get used again. It seems that once the thing has been touched it's considered "used". At least if I take them home I can make sure they get used again or recycled.
But I do my best. I always wave off the bag if I know I can carry it without. Most people, it seems, don't. They just take it as given without even thinking about it. That's why I think asking people if they need it would at least make them think about it. How many times have you seen someone walk out of a store and take their item(s) out of the bag and chuck the sack in the garbage can right outside the store? I've seen that a lot. And in Boston you're just as likely to see them chuck it to the ground. But that's another episode of Deni's Pet Peeves. Well, as you've all probably figured out by now, Boston is about five seasons worth of episodes.
But I can do better. And so can everyone. You know you can. Just say no to the bags, even if they don't ask you first. Even when you're buying several items at once, think about a few things. Will they all fit in your purse or backpack? If you are just running out of your apartment down to the corner, don't you have a bag you could take with you? And those of you that live in the suburbs and use your cars to get everywhere (also another episode, don't get me started), how easy would it be to throw a few reusable, sturdy cloth bags in your car to use when you go to the store. You would never have to get a bag from the grocery store again. You're using more then your fair share of petroleum already with your car, how about using a little less in plastic. Yes, for those of you that don't know, plastic comes from petroleum. Do I even need to point out any of the million reasons why it would be a good idea to use less oil these days? Or all days?
And for christsakes, don't be that woman in front of me at the White Hen asking for a bag for her single can of Mountain Dew or that guy at the liquor store asking for a bag for his six pack of beer. Yes, I've seen people ask for a bag for something that has it's own fucking handle built in. What do they think that's there for, so they can hang the six pack on the wall when they get home? It's times like those I wish I could make lasers shoot out of my eyes and blow up people's heads.
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Well, Charlottesville is definitely special, but most places here will ask if you want a bag if you're only buying a handful of items.
Whole Foods, of course, gives you a "bag discount" if you use your own bags, but naturally this doesn't usally cover the extra expense of shopping there. (The extra expense frequently - but not always - is covered by the higher quality of food, however.)
That said, I agree that I could do better with bringing my own bags when I go shopping.
P.S. As for the car thing, I live within a mile of UVA so I can walk to work/school every day.
Yes, I do know what you are talking about in Ireland. In 2002, I studied abroad there for a summer and quickly learned that you should resuse/bring your own plastic bags because they charged 5 cents for each bag. The reason they started doing this was because the bags would just be thrown on the street and it was causing such a mess that the government decided to take action. After that experience, I quickly learned to reuse plastic bags and happily do that now in the states. Whenever I go to shoprite or Genuardi's I bring my bags back and reuse them a get the 2 cents or 4 cents credit per bag respectively. Once the bags are beyond use for groceries then I use them as a trashbag. Additionally, I keep these bags in my trunk so when I go to these stores or any others I can tell the clerk I don't need a bag and then when I reach my car just use one of the about 40 plastic shoprite/genuardi's bags I have in my trunk. The reason I have so many bags is that my roommate refuses to reuse plastic bags and when she goes shopping collects them. Therefore, I take them and reuse them.
However, I must agree that the clerks can be amusing. I have seen them throw out the plastic bag if they have already bagged my item and I say I don't need it. Other times clerks have asked my why I don't want a bag and I tell them I really don't need another item cluttering my house seeing as I have a huge stack already and they look at you dumbfounded. Yesterday, I went to CVS and bought a whole stack of items and told the lady I didn't need a bag and she looked confused but followed my recommendation. She then commented about how weird it was not to bag any of the items. My response was, I will just take them out in the shopping cart and bag them since I have a whole stack of bags in my trunk but I didn't feel that bringing competitors bags into the store would be appropriate. So I have been doing my part but it seems like no matter how hard I try I still get more plastic bags then I need and my stack never goes down. If only the US government would start charing people for plastic bags like Ireland, people might actually care about the bags they get and use fewer. Of course it would have to be more than 5 cents because people would say you know what for 5 cents my 2 items could use about 10 plastic bags cause its only a 50 cent charge. I think in this country to reduce use we would need to charge about 25 or 30 cents a bag. Unlikely to happen, however, since this country seems to think that anything and everything is unlimited and is a God given right.
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