I've been trying to use those cloth bags every time I go to the grocery store. I feel like if I didn't, people would start staring at me in Whole Foods saying, "Isn't that that Going Green lady from Channel 5... oh look, she's wasting plastic!"
Fear of being accused of being a hypocrite aside, "Going Green" is something I'd be doing anyway. Conservation and sustainability have always been part of my life; I've always turned water off when I brush my teeth, turned off all the lights, and found value in eating organic foods.
To me, these things aren't "Going Green" - we should have already gone there. So, since taking on the "Green" reports last April, I've made it a goal to get even greener... both personally and in the stories we cover.
While telling stories about donating shoes and recycling ash trees forced to be cut down into little league baseball bats is entertaining and informative, there are bigger issues to tackle.
As a meteorologist, people are always asking me what I think about "Global Warming." I often turn the subject to conservation and sustainability, because no one can argue that we need to do that.
So being the "Green" reporter in more than one sense (this is my 14th month at NBC 5) has been a trip. We honestly get hundreds of emails each month regarding "Green" ideas and "Green" tips from viewers and companies in the Chicago-land area. The reaction locally has been astounding. Chicago is a city that is incredibly proud - of everything - and now they can add being a little greener to that pride.
Ginger Zee
NBC 5 Chicago, Green Reporter & Meteorologist
http://www.nbc5.com/goinggreen/
Re Whole Foods and canvas bags. They give you 10 cents credit on the canvas bags as well as recycling and reusing the produce bags- 10 cents credit on produces bags as well.
Instead of shopping at Walmart, I mean Whole Foods, why not try buying locally grown foods and supporting your local farmer??? You need to keep in mind that shipping foods from half-way across the country has a huge impact on the environment!
There is a small bag that solves the problem of remembering your canvas bag when you go to the store... or how many of us end up stopping on the way home, an unplanned trip. Try looking at the compact grocery bag in a pouch called the ChicoBag. It's a great answer to this problem.