Remember those brown paper grocery bags with the pull up handles? They worked great, just toss a bunch of stuff in the bag, pull up the sturdy handles and off you go. Then someone hugged a tree and the world decided we shouldn’t waste trees on paper bags. There’s a whole movement now about not cutting trees just to make toilet paper, but I’m not going to go there in this story.
The paper bags weren’t wasted, you could use them to line the garbage pail, hold a years’ worth of Splash for the recycle bin, wrap a package to mail, kids could even make funny hats and book covers. But they are pretty much gone now.
Somewhere in the depths of a lab a mad scientist came up with thin plastic film that could be made into handy plastic bags. The invention of this shapeless plastic bag was a huge hit. Wow, plastic bags how, cool is that. Everyone was excited to save the trees.
Over the past thirty years anything that was sold in a store came with its very own plastic bag. It didn’t matter the size of the item, there was a bag for everything. If you bought a tube of toothpaste you got it safely tucked into a plastic bag so you could carry it to your car. If you bought a bedspread they could find a plastic bag big enough for that too.
After about twenty years people discovered plastic bags littering the landscape. Apparently no one wanted the bag the toothpaste came in and being confused about recycling, the bag became trash. As the bags blow through the desert it is not surprising they catch on cactus and creosote bushes and barbed wire fences. They stay stuck there for years unless someone wants to brave the thorns to untether the bag. This creates an unsightly landscape that no one likes. I might mention we didn’t have this problem with paper bags but then again there is the tree thing.
Along came the multi use bag, they are the handy shape of the old paper bag but they are made from hemp, cotton or some type of woven plastic material. You might have picked one up with a purchase from Natural Grocers or received one as an advertising gimmick from Century-Link.
We had an interesting experience when we visited a Walmart in Durango this summer. We purchased about a dozen items and after the clerk finished scanning the stuff she asked if we wanted a bag, which was an odd question since we didn’t intend to try to juggle these items in our arms. We replied yes to the weird question and she promptly charged us a $1.10 for a shopping bag. She then informed us that Colorado doesn’t use plastic bags anymore. It might have been nice to know before we got to Colorado but we filed it under the banner ‘Oh, well.’ At least now we own one ugly blueberry multi use shopping bag.
For the rest of the trip we tried to remember to carry the bag everywhere we went. Otherwise that tube of toothpaste left the store as just that. Good to know if you happen to be purchasing something unmentionable you don’t want to share with your neighbors.
The Walmart in Arizona has a carousel next to the checker and once the items are scanned the checker places them in the plastic bag on the carousel. When the eight bags are full they are transferred into your cart.
On our last trip to the Durango Walmart the checker scanned our groceries and pushed them to the end of the counter that was it. Who is next in line? There were no bags, not even one to purchase. We were left trying to get $100 worth of assorted size items into the one ugly blue bag we now carried everywhere. We ended up with the bag full of small stuff and we each carried an armload of the bigger items out to the car.
As I was leaving the store struggling to hang on to my four pack of toilet paper, a head of lettuce and three tomatoes, I noticed the self check was crowded. There, next to the registers were all kinds of plastic bags just like the old days. Apparently if you are willing to self check you can have a bag. Somehow I think this is a double standard.
We finally bought another bag at the local City Market, at least this bag was bright and cheerful, covered with healthy looking fruits and vegetables.
Once we got back home to Arizona, I decided to be a good citizen and use the multi use bags at Fry’s. It felt like I was personally saving the planet with my two bags. Unfortunately the bagger thought I was supermom and loaded the bags so heavy I couldn’t get them out of the cart and into the car. So there I was in the parking lot unloading half of the bag into the trunk. So now I have loose cans of soup and cartons of cottage cheese rolling around in the trunk. When I get home I repack the bags hoping Monty can heft them out of the trunk and tote them into the kitchen.
Wasn’t there a time when life was simpler?
verry well say thank you to think like me .Blanche
I love my reusable bags – when the kids are moving (which is often) you can just toss all the bathroom items into the reusable bag and cart it off. A few years back i had a resolution to not use plastic bags – but would forget my reusable and buy a new one – when my trunk had more bags than space, i abandoned that idea.
I’m getting on the band wagon but remembering to take the bags is proving a challenge. I heard from a Canadian friend who said they only have paper bags and they are 25 cents each. Now there is incentive to bring your own.
Still amazes me how you can take a relatively trivial experience and turn it into an enjoyable/funny/me too read. Sorely miss you here in Tucson.
I miss our lunches! Thank you for sticking with me even through the miles.
Dose this mean you’re a bag lady now? One way to save money don’t use a cart just buy what you can carry! Of course the gas you use ever other day may offset that.
Hey that was uncalled for and remember it takes an hour to go the grocery store, doesn’t matter if you buy three items or a cart full so might as well stock up.