Not a very good start (!)
Good thing this is a trial week since I haven't made a very good start at fulfilling my promise to re-use my carrier bags for Recycle Week ;-(
I had coffee in town, passed Sainsbury's and decided I needed a few essentials. What possessed me to get a six-pint jug of milk AND a sack of potatoes I don't know since I had a long walk home with just HM (my four-year-old) and the stroller.
After the amazing feat of pushing the stroller, carrying a basket AND sending a text with one hand (without running into anyone) I went to the till and the nice man asked if I needed carrier bags.
Ummm. I looked at the pushchair which was already stuffed with HM's jumper and some rather largish soft toy animals that she insisted we took with us on our walk to town today. Nope, the basket under the stroller would not accommodate the milk AND the potatoes and all our junk.
So I sheepishly admitted I needed a bag and he put my items in two bright orange ones with "Recycle These Bags" printed in white. Rub it in why don't you.
I guess "the thought counts" isn't relevant in this situation, since I obviously didn't think. What no one tells you when you have children is that you lose 10 percent of your brain cells the birth of each child. I had three, in quick succession, which probably explains why I am a complete mess.
But hope is not completely lost. I put those two orange bags in the handbag I usually take when I go into town. Hopefully that will work. Now I just have to remember they are there.
I'm open to ideas people.
Mrs Green | 20th Jun 09
well done on remembering to shove a couple of these bags into your handbag – that’s a great start!
I like onya bags – they fold up really small and have a caribiner clip so you can attach them to your clothes, key ring or bag.
A Modern Mother | 17th Jun 09
Deborah — Now that would suit me, I don’t mind paying a little extra to compensate for my mushy brain.
Deborah | 17th Jun 09
Here in (atypically) ultra-modern Italy (no laughing, please) we have mater-bio degradable bags that you can use for compost recycling afterwards. They cost 15 cents a go, but since you have to pay for plastic bags now anyway…
A Modern Mother | 17th Jun 09
Sass-s — where is everone getting these “cute re-useable bags?” Why don’t I have any?
Iota — now we are talking.You get the most creative prize.
Met M — even better, how about I don’t cook?
Sparx — where, please?
Sparx | 16th Jun 09
Well, so many others have made my suggestion it’s a bit irrelevant. I carry a cloth shopping bag folded up in the spud’s buggy bag and I also have one of those nylon fold-up shoppers in a little pouch in my handbag – seems to work!
The real hint is to go out and buy a few chic little bags you can stash on you that you’re not ashamed to be seen with! Some of the hemp numbers are overly branded…
Metropolitan Mum | 16th Jun 09
Just don’t go shopping. You will not only not use new carrier bags, you will also save money. And before you say ‘madwoman!’, think about how much stuff there is in the cupboard. Sitting there since ages. I guess I could easily cook for the next three weeks without having to shop. Ok, maybe a little parmesan to top up the spaghetti napoli, but this fits into the pram.
Iota | 16th Jun 09
Well, everyone else has suggested what I was going to say, so I’m going to try some alternatives.
I think you should have balanced the potatoes on one shoulder, and the milk on the other, and managed without bags at all. You could have asked Sainsbury’s for some duct tape, or string, or used your scarf to secure the items.
And if you think that is too off-beat, you could have put the items in the jumper, sewed up the bottom (with the emergency sewing kit that you keep in your handbag), and tied the arms together to make a handle for this impromptu bag.
Or (and this is my last shot), you could have left child and stroller in the care of the Sainsbury’s Manager, explaining that your blogging credibility was at stake (he/she’d have understood), sprinted home, loose shopping in arms, and sprinted back again.
Come on, Modern Mother. Where is your initiative?
Sass E-mum | 16th Jun 09
My tactic is to carry a very pretty red and white polka dot reusable bag in my handbag. I can carry it over my shoulder or in my hand. It’s sassy enough for me to WANT to use it, strong enough for milk and potatoes and stuffs into a weeny bag when I’m not using it.
I have a rosy smug feeling everytime I get to use it and I’m pleased it’s not advertising a supermarket.
A Modern Mother | 16th Jun 09
Muddlign Along — why is every one else much more organised? OK, M&S here I come…
Kim — I think that is more my style — a few crumpled up bags with a rubber band.
Kim @NYjetsetter | 16th Jun 09
The problem I come across is last-minute shopping, i.e. milk for mash, coke for guests, laundry detergent, etc. I typically visit the grocery once every two weeks with my shopping list and reusable plastic bags in hand, but it’s those one-off visits that I’m never quite prepared for.
Luckily, now that I carry an enormous handbag, I can pretty much put everything, but the kitchen sink in my bag! So I crumple and squish 4-5 plastic bags and keep them together with a rubber band so that they can fit nicely into my handbag without taking up too much space (always have to leave enough room for flats, umbrella and a sweater)!
Muddling Along Mummy | 16th Jun 09
I have a couple of fold away bags that I now keep in the buggy basket / my handbag to help with this – it took a while to remember to repack them when I got home / remember I had them with me but I’ve found it helps
I’ve one that is made of silk type stuff that folds down incredibly small and clips on and another thats much larger and rolls up
M&S have a variety or my local hobgoblin shop has several pretty ones
A Modern Mother | 16th Jun 09
Thanks ladies those are two good ideas. My re-useable bags are very big burlap-sack-type bags and don’t fit very well in my handbag. So the smaller ones are a great idea. Where do you get them?
It’s also a mind set. I can only carry so many bits and bytes in my brain, but this should be one of them.
Sally | 16th Jun 09
Rather than using plastic bags, why don’t you use a reusable bag? I’ve got a great one from M&S that sort of folds into a little square about the size of a CD but opens into a BIG shopping bag – i just keep one in the car and one in my bag for spur of the moment shopping escapades.
Coding Mamma (Tasha) | 16th Jun 09
We both carry a rucksack with us whenever we go shopping or to visit people, and have at least one canvas bag in it, in case we buy more than will fit in the rucksack. I also have a small canvas bag that I carry around in my handbag, so that when I don’t have the rucksack I have emergency back-up if we suddenly decide to pop into a shop or something.
The problem I have these days (pregnancy brain), is remembering to put the canvas bags back when they’ve been unpacked. Oh, and remembering to take my purse/bank card helps, too – have forgotten at least three times so far this pregnancy!