On The 'Going Green' Bandwagon...

It has finally happened - We are jumping on the "Go Green" bandwagon for the Environment and it starts with Chicobags for groceries! Well, let me be honest, this isn't the first step towards helping the environment... Trey and I do recycle and have changed out our light bulbs to conserve energy. However, we went to our Kroger store this past weekend and discovered a new trend - re-usable grocery bags! I have seen a few people (mostly at Fresh Market) use the fabric bags for groceries so that plastic is no longer used. I haven't thought too much about buying any quite yet, but after what we witnessed this past weekend - I have placed my order via the Internet!
We were leisurely shopping on Saturday evening and we got into the only line that was open, which of course meant there were 3 people in front of us and pretty soon 4 people behind us. We started to notice the 3 individuals in front of us had their re-usable bags and they were handing them to the gentleman bagging groceries. (One lady had super cute bags with fun prints plastered all over. Very Chic - and expensive!) I would safely say at least 40-50 plastic bags were unused from those three people checking out in front of us. Wow!

So, the 4 people behind us started to realize that we did not have pretty fabric bags with us. We were the odd couple out! I started to feel embarrassed and then bad because we were the only ones that were not being mindful of the environment and everyone was staring at us while the young man pulled out the plastic to bag our groceries. Talk about strange - what a weird feeling...I felt like their eyes were burning into the back of our heads (probably just a little paranoid)
So, moral of the story? I have been on a search for re-usable bags and I have found plenty of not-so-cute ones and an array of gorgeous ones (unfortunately, much too expensive for my budget). I finally settled on Chicobags. They come in their own pouch for easy transporting and hold about 20 pounds each. Here is their detailed description:

*Ultra-lightweight
*Easily fits in your pocket, purse or glove box
*Made of strong and washable nylon
*Folds into an integrated pouch
*Hook it onto your key chain, belt loop or backpack
*Designed in California, made responsibly in China
http://www.reusablebags.com/store/chicobag-colorful-compact-reusable-shopping-p-450.html

They are very reasonably priced and colorful which was one of my criteria (They have PINK!) So, next time we go to Kroger - Watch Out - we will no longer be the "slowly-killing-the-environment-one-plastic-bag-at-a-time-couple...Oh no, we will hold our heads high, and proudly offer our colorful ChicoBag's to the person bagging groceries and know we are doing our little part. :)