My husband started it. He came home from work one day with a reusable shopping bag (Where he got it, I have no idea.) and vowed to carry it with him for evermore, never to bring a plastic grocery store bag home again! He gave me a big speech about saving the planet, how plastic bags are not biodegradable and how we need to start doing our part at the supermarket. He was very excited, very sincere, very *ahem*cough*over-the-top*cough*, about it and he meant every word. This was about three years ago, way before the current trend in Los Angeles to “bring your own bag” shopping.
As I stared at him blankly, taking in his latest revelation, I wondered if my husband even knew where our local supermarket was. Grocery shopping is "not his thing”, if you catch my drift. I wished him good luck on HIS “plastic bag-free mission" and went about my business. Then I called my friend to have a good laugh about it.
Little did I know, my friend had a few "save the planet” ideas of her own. She was knee-deep in the book Omnivore’s Dilemma and was now on HER own mission-- That mission was chicken! My friend wanted better food choices to feed her growing child and was willing to make the added effort to find, and the added expense involved, to make it happen. After all, we live in Southern California, how hard could it be?
After extensive research, she found a truly organic, cage-free, roam around in the sun, chicken, to feed her child-- You know, a real chicken. It’s not as easy to find as you might think-- which, come to think of it, is shocking. But finally, after searching high and low and racing cross-town, in Los Angeles rush hour traffic, to pay a ridiculous sum of money, for a raw chicken, my friend found her chick-o-dee and was thrilled…. Right up until the butcher put her beautiful “pure” chemical-free, Sunshine State chicken into a plastic grocery bag. Talk about a buzz kill.
We discussed it, half laughing, half frustrated, and hands-free of course, as she drove home with her bird in the backseat. That was our “tipping point” as they say, and we both pledged to join my husband and swore off plastic (and paper) bags at the supermarket.
The idea of being “ahead of the curve” was appealing to us, although San Francisco, at the other end of the state, was really the mother of reusable bags (in the U.S.). And we liked the idea of “making a difference", all be it a very small one. We found some pretty cool shopping bags too-- Eye-catching and just the right size for large or small trips to the market.
The bags were just the start, as I expanded MY "Mother Earth mission", learning about more things I could improve on. I joked about tracking my carbon footprint as if it was the shoe sale at Nordstrom’s, but knew it was important. My friend and I also explained reusable bags to her child and the commitment we were making. She was all for it and anxious to join in. Big time!
In fact, early in the learning curve, gung-ho child busted both of us, on multiple occasions, for mindlessly taking a store's plastic bag. That resulted in carrying groceries out of the market in our coat pockets and purses. You learn fast not to forget your reusable shopping bag once onion dip is in your coat pocket-- Try explaining that to the dry cleaners! It can be a messy proposition but a commitment is a commitment-- especially in front of an impressionable 9 year old.
Fast forward a few years later and I’d estimate at least half of the shoppers at my local supermarket now bring their own reusable bags. My friend’s child ALWAYS does-- I only wish my memory was that good. I’m forever running back to the car to get my bags. But-- Not once in the last two years have I brought a plastic grocery store bag home with me! I’m pretty proud of that.
And yes, my husband takes total credit for it, although he’s yet to step foot in a grocery store!
Are you “saving the planet”?
Welcome to The Fifty Factor - Joanna
Photo Credit: © Willee Cole - Fotolia.com
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