#137 plastic bag free!
I am going to try and go an entire week without using plastic bags. I know it's possible, but I want to create the habits to live plastic bag free.
I hope to turn it into a plastic bag free month, year and maybe life.
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Comments (6)
Nice work. I've found it quite easy living without plastic bags for years... depending on the country I'm living in.
New Zealand stores always ask "Do you NEED a bag?" when you buy something. They're very encouraging of the bring-your-own idea.
Most US stores look at you like a purple alien when you pull out a reusable cloth bag & will even shove their plastic bags into your cloth bag (puzzling) after you've said no.
So, how are the Australian retailers' reactions to the movement these days? I'm moving there next week & I'm curious.
Hello Anonymous.
Whereabouts are you moving to?
The major Supermarkets here, Woolworths/Safeway and Coles, (Duopoly supermarkets actually) are big promoters of the green re-usable bags. they sell them and now have a policy of not giving you bag if you've bought less than three items, but if you say nothing you get a bag.
Since those two chains dominate the market so much other players are boutique, small and organic, and therefore more conscientious.
On a slight tangent, but more related to the 'live local' theme, may i suggest you try avoiding those two retailers when you are here and supporting a locally owned small retailer. Coles and Woolworths use their market power to shortpay local producers and they are homogenising society through depriving us of choice.
hope you find somewhere nice to live. Tassie is amazing, but there are good places everywhere.
Michael.
(sorry to hijack the thread)
I should be moving to Melbourne eventually & usually shop at farmers markets & asian grocers where they're available (I hope there are lots!). Like you said, the smaller the store the less likely they are to shove plastic bags at you. It's good to hear the larger chains are making a little effort in that regard though, with the 3 item or less rule.
i'm from the fairer city, but even i must admit that melbourne is streets ahead in terms of sustainability so that's a good choice anonymous!
on the bags; few things....i usually use (re-use an old, that is) a plastic bag to take my son's wet stuff home after swimming lessons. yesterday i tried using my enviro-sac (mentioned above) instead and it worked fine!
so i used the enviro-sac today when i needed to bring tupperware containers of food to work for lunch. alas, they leaked and the enviro-sac also leaked. i was in a bit of a mess (literally!) so i bought a bag from the local cafe. they are an organic store, they have plastic bags on sale - only if you ask (they prefer you to bring your own or use a box) - they sell the plastic bags for 10c, i think just to make you consider whether you need it or not. and they are degradable ones. but still, a bit of a fail for me. so....
...i was going to post on here asking for a solution for bringing lunch in tupperware to work and avoiding leakage, when i thought of an answer myself! put the tupperware inside a larger tupperware box. that would work, wouldn't it?
Vaike, I've got a FairShare lexan screwtop mug/container for all potentially messy food. As a frequent maker of soup, this changed my life. Make sure it's BPA free, though – dunno if the one in the link is.
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