Lowering my impact

One thing that I long ago learned about myself is that if activities are built in to my natural pattern, they are much easier to establish and maintain, rather than activities that I have to go out of my way to do. The most simple, obvious one, is carrying reusable shopping bags. How many of you have trouble with your conscience, because you KNOW that this is a VERY SIMPLE STEP towards lowering your environmental impact? First, you have to acquire the bags. Then you have to store them somewhere in the house. Then you have to get them to your traveling vehicle, be it car, bike, or bus. Then, you have to remember to USE them. 20+ years ago, I really didn’t want to use the plastic bags at all, even to re-use them as shopping bags. For the ‘acquisition” phase, I slowly bought string bags, from the local food coop. I would always be pleased when a new batch came in, as I could then choose a color that I didn’t already have. Occasionally, I would buy a more expensive canvas bag. Fine. MANY bags piling up on the counters, and in the crevices at home. But NO BAG WITH ME IN THE STORE. Rumble, growl. So, next is to install a hook near the door, where they could be hung once emptied. And a hook near the door, means that as I run for the car, “Oh, there are my bags, I’ll take them with me!” Tossed somewhere loose, buried under the other masses of stuff I would be carrying. (daughter, food for three people for the day, 3 dogs, water bucket for the dogs, container to KEEP THE DOGS OUT OF OUR FOOD, 3 leashes, additional layers/changes of clothes, pruning shears and shovel to kidnap plants, YOU know the drill. Or have your own.) Then, time after time, I reach the checkout counter, and have bags….. in the car. Slump. Next, designate the space RIGHT BEHIND the drivers seat, on the floor, as the bag location. That helps! They are where I can see them when I get out of car, and am locking the door. (ALWAYS USE YOUR KEYS TO LOCK THE DOOR, THEN YOU NEVER LOCK YOUR KEYS IN THE CAR!) But still, the scruffle to choose what bags I need, out of a heap on the floor, and shake the dog fur out of them, means that they MAY not always get used. Ah ha! Designate one bag as the “bag of bags”, to hold the other bags. Nowdays, that is one of the large, but rather flimsy ones, that we are ALL getting for free. Advertisers, pink for breast cancer research, green to “go green”, everyone is on the bandwagon with reuseable bags, frequently “closed loop” bags, made from recycled material. Tip-keep one particular bag (canvas), for things that might leak, so that you know which bag to put in the laundry frequently. All this, JUST TO HAVE A REUSABLE BAG AT THE STORE. But once solved, aahhh. Relief. (One thing that I have an extreme aversion to, is having to solve the same problem AGAIN, but that is a different topic, for another day.)