Bagged

Someone I know who shall remain unnamed is against bag bans for ideological reasons, but recently said that the one-item-per-bag phenomenon that plagues so many stores has made her reconsider her position.

One thing I love about bag bans: I don't have to tell the bagger, sometimes multiple times, "No, see, I brought my own bag. Stop putting things in plastic." One day last summer, at the grocery store near Grandma's house where I shopped nearly every day for four months, I had to say to a bagger, "No. Stop. I do not want you to put any of my things into a plastic bag." To which he said, "Oh, sorry," then took out whatever he'd put in, pulled the bag off its hooks, and tossed it into the trash. I gave him the "why would you do something that stupid?" look I used to practice in case I ever had teenagers in my house. I got to use it after all, yay.

Some of my ridiculously large
collection of reusables, back before
I'd washed them so many times their
logos are now half worn off.
Unrelated: I really miss the apartment
where I took this pic.

That's not really the point of today's post, although if you aren't yet taking your own bags to the grocery store, why not? Everyone I know has approximately three dozen of them kicking around the house, so put them to good use. Similarly, if you do end up at a store without your reusables, remember to gather up all that plastic and return it to the recycling bin inside the store on your next trip.

No, today's PSA is this: you really need to wash those things, early and often. They'll go in your regular laundry. Toss them in and let them get clean, then hang them up to air dry. Small produce bags you can hand wash--soap up your hands and then rub the bag between them. Rinse with warm water and hang up. Keep your bags clean for the health of your family and for other folks--spreading your germs all over creation is maybe not the best expression of neighborliness.