BYOB
Yesterday was Bring Your Own Bag day. Basically it's about trying to reduce the number of plastic bags that are given out (and then probably thrown away or become litter) each day. These bags are also environmentally unfriendly and result in a huge amount of waste each year.
Celest and I have been trying to save the bags for a while - it's a bit ridiculous but we bring stashes of old plastic bags along with us to NTUC when we do shopping. At the checkout counter we would tell the cashier to put the groceries into our own bags instead of using theirs. It takes discipline (must remember to bring the bags) and a certain amount of eccentricity (to take the bags out and ask the cashier to use them). End result, a couple of people walking out of NTUC carry groceries in IKEA plastic bags.
When we forget, we ask the auntie to shove as many things into single bags as possible. For some reason, if you don't say anything (like most people do), she tends to use double bags for everything - milk, canned food, mushrooms, toothpaste, nutella. Do double bags really give you the extra protection you need to ensure your shopping doesn't end up on the concrete? I don't think so - it's really in the way you carry the bags. End result, a couple of people walking very slowly out of NTUC with over-stuffed bags, bursting at the seams, mushrooms, toothpaste and sometimes even that damn nutella spilling out on the ground. This couple would also be talking, blaming each other for not remembering to bring the IKEA plastic bags.
That's what we've been doing with regards to plastic bags. Not much, but I think it's about doing your little bit for the environment and being disciplined about it.
Celest and I have been trying to save the bags for a while - it's a bit ridiculous but we bring stashes of old plastic bags along with us to NTUC when we do shopping. At the checkout counter we would tell the cashier to put the groceries into our own bags instead of using theirs. It takes discipline (must remember to bring the bags) and a certain amount of eccentricity (to take the bags out and ask the cashier to use them). End result, a couple of people walking out of NTUC carry groceries in IKEA plastic bags.
When we forget, we ask the auntie to shove as many things into single bags as possible. For some reason, if you don't say anything (like most people do), she tends to use double bags for everything - milk, canned food, mushrooms, toothpaste, nutella. Do double bags really give you the extra protection you need to ensure your shopping doesn't end up on the concrete? I don't think so - it's really in the way you carry the bags. End result, a couple of people walking very slowly out of NTUC with over-stuffed bags, bursting at the seams, mushrooms, toothpaste and sometimes even that damn nutella spilling out on the ground. This couple would also be talking, blaming each other for not remembering to bring the IKEA plastic bags.
That's what we've been doing with regards to plastic bags. Not much, but I think it's about doing your little bit for the environment and being disciplined about it.