Christmas Shopping Without The Bags

I have been shopping with re-usable grocery bags for a long time, but I am embarrassed to admit, I would never take my bags with me to do any other shopping. I would run to Target, use a plastic bag, and not think anything of it.

Until one day I noticed that the plastic bag that held all the other plastic bags in my kitchen kept growing and growing. Wait a minute…. I thought, we made a commitment to using our bags at the grocery store. Where did all these plastic bags come from? Oh yeah, Target. And CVS. And the Gap. And Belk’s. And…

During Advent, scripture reminds us again and again to “KEEP AWAKE” as we wait for Christ to come again. I am astonished, again and again, by how easy it is to destroy creation because I fell asleep and wasn’t paying attention to the little habits that can be so harmful to the planet that God loves. Anyone who has seen pictures of the great garbage patches in all the oceans now is alert to the incredible harm that single-use plastic shopping bags can do.

So last Christmas, in an effort to KEEP AWAKE and pay attention to God’s creation, I made a little bet with myself to see if I could do all my Christmas shopping without using a plastic bag. I put a bunch of reusable bags in my car (which really, I should have done a long time ago), and whenever I went out to do some Christmas shopping, I took a bag or two.

I got some strange looks when I would stop the clerk from putting the gift into one of the store plastic bags, but when I would explain that I was trying to see if I could do all my shopping without single-use plastic bags, the response was always, always positive. As I explained, the store workers, and the other shoppers were intrigued, and admitted they had never thought about taking reusable bags for Christmas shopping! Hopefully, some of the people I talked to were inspired to make a similar commitment.

So this “holiday season,” make sure to take your bags!

For more ideas about how to reduce consumption and waste during Advent and Christmas, take a look at the December Personal Action page. There are lots of great ideas about giving gifts that don’t need bags, and other ways to use less stuff and create more love for the planet.

In peace,

Stephanie+