green is universal

Having Trouble Remembering to BYOB?

Dear Mr. Green,

What's a surefire way of remembering my canvas bag for shopping? I'm pondering stapling it to my hand!

Signed,
Sack Slacker

Dear Sack Slacker,

I was running a few errands the other day and thought to stop at our neighborhood grocery store. Once inside I sped the cart up and down aisles grabbing what I needed and came to a screeching halt at the register. And then I thought "Oh no... I forgot my blasted bags."

The casher rang up the hodgepodge of my this-and-thats and said, "So... what'll it be - paper or plastic?" Under my breath I whispered "Plastic." (Note: I do return the plastic bags when I've forgotten my own, but who knows what happens to them then!)

But sure enough, as quickly as I said it, I got stares. To the right of me was a cute gay couple that had their super-stylish canvas totes - still stiff, fresh and quietly awaiting their maiden voyage. They sure read me... pelting me with looks of guilt and shame. To my left was a young woman who stashed her newly purchased (and may I point out, nearly half eaten) pint of Hagen Daas and an economy-sized bag of Cool Ranch Doritos into her over-sized tote. But me... "Mr. Green"... I forgot mine at home. (Oh... the disgrace of it all!)

If you're anything like me you probably own a mountain of swell reusable bags. (Don't even call it a purse... in our house we call it a man-bag or a m-urse.) I have this cool enormous rubber tote for when it rains, a vintage one made of black leather that I've had for a bazillion years and yet another made of canvas that I like to bring to the beach. My partner Richard even has a few of those really cool French mesh market bags (ooo-la-la) made of string that you might imagine some swanky socialite carrying baguettes and bouquets in. (Actually, his are great because they schmoosh into such a small ball that he can hold 3 of them in his back pocket.)

But just like you, for some unknown reason, I sometimes slip up and leave the house without any of them, too - especially if I'm not planning on shopping. Forgetting them is understandable... you lug them to the store, load them up with your junk only to bring them right back where you started. Once home, the bags get emptied and then are stuffed into some deep dark corner, closet or drawer. Fast forward, and there you are again in line with a cart full of goodies and no bags except for the free ones that wreak havoc on the environment. What to do?

One thing you might do (as I might have done the other day if I had my wits about me) is to ask for a cardboard carton to lug your stuff home in. That way, you've repurposed the cardboard box and can then recycle it.

But barring that, some grocery stores are now offering incentives to customers who supply their own bags and are even raffling off stuff (i.e. huge carts of groceries) to those eco-savvy individuals (the ones, unlike me, with the non-addled gray matter) who have the foresight to have brought their own totes. And for a good reason...in South America alone an estimated 50 to 80 billion plastic bags a year are used (that's about 2,500 plastic bags every second) and are then disposed of. (I'm not sure if it's just an urban myth, but supposedly there is an island of plastic bags literally floating out at sea somewhere - I'll have to check that one and get back to you.)

Although many retailers now refund customers $.02 (get real!) for every bag that they return, my good guess is that they end up throwing them away, too.

We all want to stop using plastic bags but, whether we want to admit it or not - we're often just too busy to think ahead. And since most reusable bags or totes are just butt-ugly and have no real fashion appeal, maybe we need to start a trend of be-dazzling them (rhinestones, loud colors, rickrack, pom-pom fringe... the sky's the limit!) to make them completely unforgettable. A friend of ours - Babz - uses a shopping wagon dressed with ribbons and fake sunflowers. I'm guessing that she does it so she can't miss it on her way out the door, and because it's so outrageous she knows no one will ever steal it.

If you use a car to grocery shop or run errands, then my suggestions for you are to ask the "bagger" to pack your items into the cardboard boxes they are only going pay to have carted away, and then just wheel them to your mode of transportation and zoom away. Or how about leaving your reusable "Fabulosity" bag in your car's glove compartment or trunk so that even if you forget to take it into the store, you can always run out and get it before they stuff your stuff into plastic.

If you're an urban shopper and don't drive for groceries, then I suggest dangling your reusable bags conspicuously from a doorknob or some other obvious place and pin your shopping list to it so that you remember to take it. (You do make a shopping list, right?) Hopefully the list and the bag will get your attention the next time you're ready to split for a shopping spree.

Another idea is to take a bunch of those nasty plastic bags, fold them the size of a credit card, wrap them with a rubber band and plop them into your handbag, backpack - whatever - so that even if you forget your trendy eco-tote, you'll always have a roll of used bags for your groceries... you'll never be at a loss.

But if that doesn't work, perhaps stapling your tote to your hand is the best idea after all - and if you do, I have a terrific tip for getting blood out of fabrics, too.

about mr. green

From re-gifting, re-cycling, to natural cleaning products for your home, Mr. Green has all of your ecotiquette answers. Our Mr. Green (aka. Michael De Jong), is the author of "CLEAN: The Humble Art of Zen-Cleansing." He lives in Jersey City with his partner (Richard,) dog (Jack,) and three goldfish (Phil, Jill and Gill) all of which benefit from his natural cleaning techniques. De Jong, who cleaned apartments in New York City while working as a fine artist, began researching and inventing many of the recipes in "CLEAN" and is continually experimenting with safe, effective and eco-friendly alternatives. Raised in the mid-West by an immigrant family that valued the environment and re-cycled before it was fashionable, his quest for non-toxic solutions comes naturally to him. He is currently writing a companion series of "CLEAN" books dealing with such topics as the body, first aid, organization, and food, as well as posting a weekly Blog on www.thedailygreen.com. "CLEAN: The Humble Art of Zen-Cleansing" can be purchased at Barnes & Noble stores across the country or on-line at www.barnesandnoble.com or www.amazon.com.

Click here to send him a question and he'll put in the elbow grease to scrub out the answers!