Common Sense Articles The Value of a Totebag | The Value of a Totebag |
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| Written by Sue Mahar | |
| Thursday, 31 January 2008 | |
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In the 1970's, the grass roots environmental movement was happening, but no one was sure what to make of it. Living in the land of plenty, eco-conservation seemed much too great an effort, I suppose. A small population of people were maintaing a healthy environmental conscience, but not many would take it as far as carring their own shopping bags around. That kind of behavior was mostly for 'hippies', and I was not raised by hippies by any stretch of the imagination. But, I was raised by the core value of money (that is, we hadn't much - and had to make things last) and basic common sense. Since then, we have all come to learn that what's good for the Earth can also be what's good for our wallets. It just takes the ability to adapt and maintain better habits.
My environmental conscience is strong. This kind of thinking makes perfect sense. Nowadays, it is not uncommon for people to be prepared with their own totebag when they go shopping. I use totebags to shop at every opportunity. I am not the only one. I will note, 'hippies' may have taken over the consumer conscience and we're better off. The term 'hippie' today has a broad spectrum - it's mostly a personality trait. Perhaps if more people were hippie-esque, it would mean 'hippie grass root efforts' are practiced by more people. To give credit where credit is due, iIt's not just the 'hippie' type of person making grass root efforts. I see many elderly people with canvas shopping bags at check-out, too (it pleases my heart). Stores have to provide a shopping bag for their customers, no fault there, I am glad they do, but, if ninety percent of those bags are improperly disposed, we have a serious waste situation. Fortunately, there's an easy solution. Even if fifty percent of the shoppers carried their purchases around in ther own bags, there is significant cost savings opportunity and a reduction in consumer waste. Many stores are selling bags for less than a dollar, or better yet, they are giving them away during promotions. If they didn't have to buy as many shopping bags to provide the shopper, their costs go down, and (ideally) passed along to the customer (usually in the form of store improvements, not necessarilly as a rebate, but ultimately for the shopping experience). Consumer behavior is powerful. The term, 'grass roots' means 'people or society at a local level rather than at the center of a political organization'. It means it may take more personal effort to achieve long-term results. And so it does. Get used to carrying totebags. It's for the 'greater good'. When people act independently for the 'greater good', they are enriching their soul, and the souls of those they inspire. (We could all benefit from soul-enrichment) Perhaps a strong eco-conscience is achieved by simply choosing to become self-sustaining when shopping. A totebag is a universal item with so many practical uses. It's hard to measure the value of a simple totebag.
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