Grocery Bags

Getting up and out of bed at 7 am on a weekend seems absurd to some. I blame that beautiful, life-giving orb of a sun that will not allow me to sleep once it rises. I love mornings and all the quiet, hopeful potential that they bring. A perfect day is rising early, filling my morning with early bird busy-ness, and then napping the afternoon away on a couch. I'll put that on my to-do list today.

I especially anticipate Sunday mornings - not for church, not for comics, but for Sunday morning grocery shopping. No one is grocery shopping on Sunday morning, so you have the store to yourself. The cart racks and food shelves are loaded up from the night shift. The sale items haven't been picked over yet. The cashiers are more relaxed. Everyone wins.

Grocery shopping presents such a world of possibilities. I'm also a bargain hunter, so I get a kick out of looking over the receipt and seeing that I saved $4.82 on my grocery purchase. $4.82! I can buy more groceries with that! My favorite local store gives you the free item after purchasing $25 of groceries. Cash Wise, if you are reading, that's the main reason I shop at your store: the freebie item that I rarely need (another bottle of ketchup!). Plus, Cash Wise has the best organic milk price in town.


So here's my annoyance with grocery shopping: the plastic bag. There was a guy in front of me purchasing bananas. He had the bananas in a produce bag (bag #1). The cashier proceeded to place the bananas in a brown paper bag (bag #2) and then place the brown paper banana bag in a plastic grocery bag (bag #3). 3 bags to carry bananas to your car? Seriously? Unless you like munching on banana peels, I don't see why bananas need a bag in the first place.

Say hello to my grocery bags:


They're my buddies. They never break/tear/rip. They hold a ton. And yes, I'll admit these bags give me an ego-driven sense of self-righteousness, because I'm oh so much more conscientious than the other saps schlepping their Hamburger Helper in plastic.

If you don't already have reusable bags, please consider acquiring some. Mine are basic and boring, but no one says that reusable bags have to be made out of hemp screaming environmental slogans. There are plenty of adorable bags, check some out here & here & here.

For more info on why to ditch plastic, check out http://www.onebagatatime.com/.