In the world of going green, it is common to hear people saying or thinking they alone can’t make a difference.  That really couldn’t be farther from the truth.  The simple act of taking your own bags to the store, has a huge impact and it only has to start with you.  On average, I could come home with about 15 plastic bags every week from my groceries.  I grocery shop every week.  There are 52 weeks in the year so multiply that by my 15 plastic bags.  You get a total of 780 plastic bags that “me” alone is using a year.  That is really a low number too, considering 15 per week is average.  Many times it is over or even under, but then think about all the last minute trips to the drugstore, gas station, Target or Wal-Mart, they start adding up quickly.  If you ask me, I think keeping 780 plastic bags out of our landfills each year is a very good start!

I would now like to take a second to make a confession.  I would like to confess that even I do not use reusable bags 100% of the time.  Now that I have that off my chest, I would also like to share a story with you how I’ve grown in the past year.  As many of you know, my sister and I started SULIbag because we began using cloth bags on our trips to the grocery store.  We were not satisfied with the bags we had or the ones we found to buy.  We wanted something a little nicer, a little sturdier, but most of all we wanted them to look good!

We are  no different than anyone else.  We have kids, bad days, days when it seems to take an eternity to just walk out of the house.  I had such a day recently.  I woke up late, which is never a good start, it took forever to get the kids dressed, it was cold and snowy out, and I was dealing with a killer headache.  Then I realized, I had not made a shopping list.  I am very strict about going to the store with a list,  I must have a list! So, everything was put on hold to sit down and figure out the menu and shopping list for the week.  By the time I had everyone loaded in the car and on our way, I really just wanted to go back inside and crawl into my bed until the day was over.

I continued to the store and halfway down the road, I realized I forgot to take my SULIbags.  Due to the rough morning just getting to the car, I decided to forget it just this once.  Usually, if I’m not too far away, I’ll turn around out of guilt and get my reusable bags.  I thought I would just deal with those plastic bags from the store today, besides, I could use some for the bathroom trash cans anyway, right?

Once I got to the store, it really wasn’t that bad.  I got all my things rather quickly and proceeded to the checkout, where, I will admit it went very quickly too, but this is where it went bad again.  I didn’t think I had too much for a regular trip, but I started receiving bag after bag after bag filling my cart to the brim.  By the time it was done, my cart was overflowing with these bags.

Then came loading my car.  Now, one of the most popular questions I get about reusable green bags are if they are sturdy enough or won’t they tip over in the car.  Personally, I pack my reusable bags so full and tight that these babies have no problem standing up.  However, after remembering how messy all the plastic bags are, I’m a little perplexed that I really get that question.  I mean, they were everywhere, and by the time I got home, my groceries had fallen out of half of them.

Finally came the fun part of unloading.  This is when I realized, reusable bags have truly spoiled me.  I can put 2 or 3 of my SULIbags on each of my shoulders and carry everything in the house.  Not so much with these plastic ones, which you must grab using your hands or wrists.  I consider myself in shape, but I do not have strong hands or biceps by any means which is where all the weight of the plastic bags are focused on.  It was not easy getting everything back in the house.

Through this eventful day of shopping I realized that I have changed.  In the beginning, I made a choice to use reusable green bags as the first step to living a greener lifestyle.  There were times when I loved every minute of them.  There are other times when I just got plain annoyed at the checkout person complaining at me because I brought my own bags and it was an inconvenience to them.  There were other times, that I was absolutely so proud of my bags when I was given a compliment from someone.  Above all, I have realized that my first step to “learn”  a greener way, has actually become the first step towards a greener lifestyle.  When the change becomes a habit, that is when we realize maybe each of us can make a difference.

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Post tags: going green, reusable bags, reusable green bags, SULIbags

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