Ever since our species got out of the trees and into the mall, we have needed totes - bags to carry our stuff. And now that my ever-ecological-save-the-tree-city-of-Seattle has a plastic bag ban, and our neighboring communities have adopted the bag ban, too, I see people walking into stores carrying their own bags. I do not carry my own bags into a grocery store...you may think it's because I'm too good for that, or not ecologically minded, or that I have a death wish if I'm walking into Whole Foods...but you'd be wrong...I don't carry my own bags because I forget them! When I leave my house I can barely remember my keys, sunglasses and wallet! So I'll happily pony up the extra 5 to 10 cents to buy what was once a free paper sack to carry my stuff home. But the mister? No way is he going to pay the nickle or dime - instead he'll huff and puff and make a HUGE scene so as to drive the point home...he don't need no stinkin' bags! (My apologies to the gal in check-stand #4 at Home Depot.)
This is my latest tote bag...it's machine-quilted with batting in between the outside and inside fabrics, so it's sturdy...sturdy enough to carry a gallon of organic milk or a couple of pounds of grass-fed, free-range beef, and still have room for some loaves of stone-ground-9-grain bread and a package of granola.
Only one side has the hand-appliqued cherries - and I kind of like the other side naked. I'm going to keep this tote in my car and I will try to remember to take it in with me when I hit the store/mall, then at least my purchases will be carted in style and I'll feel SO much better about saving the environment! Whatever.
This is the inside of the bag - the lighter color fabric on the bottom of the bag will help me see things better and I also put pockets on the inside so I can find my keys and phone - if I remember to put them in the pockets!
Last week I was shopping at the Northgate Mall and was charged a dime at each of the five places I bought something for one of their "reusable" bags...if I'd had my Cheery Cherry Tote with me I could have saved that 50 cents, invested it and in a hundred years from now I'd have 60 cents... but the sapling on the side of the mountain would still have been cut down! Let's face it, the Birkenstock-wearing-latte-sipping-Douglas Firs-for-president-do-gooders in Seattle have taken away plastic bags, and next they'll take away paper bags...but here's the rub, trees will still need to be chopped down...if not for paper bags then for one of the only things that truly matters...toilet paper...and that, my friends, might be the only reason to carry my own tote bags around, to do my part to help conserve...forget about the spotted owls and the salmon...Save the Charmin!
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Update! Thanks to Chris at Nibble Me This for sending me the link below about plastic/paper bags...it's worth reading...and it makes me feel SO much better about my sarcastic comments above!
Click on this: Paper vs Plastic
