I did it again… despite having about 7 cloth bags in the trunk of my car, I still managed to leave the drug store with a plastic bag for 3 items. Why is it so hard to do this one simple thing?
Can I blame it on human nature? General laziness? It’s not that I loooove plastic bags and secretly want to keep using them. No, I think it’s just plain habit. My whole life I’ve been able to walk out of any store, carrying my purchase in a convenient container provided by the store. Now I have to provide it; I guess that’s actually a pretty big change when you think of it that way.
OK, so how to make this new habit as easy to stick to as walking? I’ll have to carry my bags with me. Literally, on my person – or an extension of my person, the purse. Keep that extra bag, and the stainless steel travel mug, and metal utensils, and cloth hanky / napkin in my purse. I recently (ha! actually a couple of years ago) upgraded to a beautiful leather tote bag (handmade by a local artist), which actually will hold all this stuff without bulging. Unfortunately, I still have a long-time avoidance of big purses, so I often grab my wallet out of the purse and leave that bulk behind.
Guys – you’re on your own. Unless you have a bag or pack that you carry as regularly as most women carry purses. It’s ok, your man-bag can take on a whole new level of utility by carrying all your green gear.
Maybe I just need to learn to think ahead… hmmm… that sounds like it would solve a lot of problems at once. If I’m thinking ahead, I’m planning my car trips, I have an idea of where I’m going to be eating… wow, efficiency instead of convenience. Is it really giving something up (plastic bags) or gaining a new skill?
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