Bag O' Bags

In every country, state, city, house, and apartment where I have lived, bags have followed me. I do my best to follow all the rules of waste reduction, and try to recycle everything I can, but, until I moved to New York City, I always drove to the grocery store, which promoted large shopping sprees, instead of buying what I needed for the day or evening meal. I attempted to bring my own bags, on occasion, but I often forgot because I kept them in a larger plastic bag under the sink. Often my cache of plastic bags became so great that by the time I moved, I didn’t know what to do. Some grocery stores have recycling bins out front, but I was always suspicious of where they were actually going; it’s just too easy for them to be thrown in the trash. One time, when I was moving from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas, I left the bag o’ bags under the sink thinking the new tenants would be able to use them—perhaps I was just passing on my burden—but the landlord didn’t leave them and instead deducted forty dollars from my security deposit for their removal.

So I had to find other ways of reusing them. When I swam, I could tie up my wet gear in a plastic bag, and since the chlorine was so strong I’d have to throw it away afterwards. I carried lunches in my bags, but would often return home with them and put them back under the sink. I used them for my bathroom trashcan and the recycling, which helped eliminate quite a few, but was I really reusing these bags to their greatest potential, and whether I threw away a plastic bag after using it once, twice, or a dozen times, was it still destined to sit in a landfill longer than my lifespan?


The key is to eliminate using disposable bags all together, but that has not been easy, especially in New York. I have noticed since moving here that people tend to carry many things on their commute, and it’s not strange to see someone walking with three bags full of stuff. Without the convenience of a car, one must be prepared for everything, which, for us, means carrying bags for groceries and such at all times. Both the Chicken and I have a few plastic bags we keep with us, but it’s harder to always have a canvas bag on hand, so we often buy smaller servings of groceries or wait until we get home, and then venture out again. At least we’re getting more exercise.

I do see the original inventory shrinking, but it’s been almost two months, and it’s not going as quickly as I’d like.