Good-bye Bags!

I am not sure if I have mentioned the overuse of plastic bags that occurs during a routine stop at the market here. They are extra small too, so the cashier can only fit about one canned good and a small bag of rice in each one.

This leads to bringing home about 15 bags when you buy 16 items. We try to reuse them around the house, but honestly with their small size there isn’t much you can do with them. We often used these types of bags at home as small trashcan liners, but the ones here aren’t large enough for that.

I’m a big fan of the bring-your-own-bag movement going on in the US. I was thrilled to see that the trends of the west coast had made it to the Midwest when I was visiting. Almost every store I went into was selling reusable shopping bags.

Well, I got a great surprise this weekend while shopping at the local market which is owned by Wal-mart. They had these reusable bags for only R$2!

I am so glad the trend is catching on here too! I got this other bag at the parade a few months ago so I knew that awareness was beginning to increase. It certainly is not common to see people with reusable bags, though. I did use this bag on a previous grocery store stop without too much objection. However, I am so glad to see them selling the bags at the actual store so hopefully they will be expecting people to use them.

Aside from the benefit to the environment, they are much easier to carry when you have about 7 blocks to walk. It is more comfortable to throw it over my shoulder than the carry 5 plastic bags in each hand with handles that cut of my circulation. My new bag will be with me each time I shop from now on. I’ll probably invest in a few more.