Monday, June 15, 2009

And another thing...

When I went grocery shopping yesterday I picked from my huge collection of reusable shopping bags. Since June 1, Toronto merchants must now charge five cents per plastic bag they distribute, even the little markets and non-food retailers.

That hasn't affected me too much, since I've been bringing reusable bags to the store for years, even before they were heavily promoted. (And I saved my recyclable cans, bottles and papers and dragged them down to Guelph's public recycling bins as early as 1982.)

But the black cloth-like ones made of recycled soft drink bottles, while they're washable, are collectors of lint and hair. While they're still usable, they don't look too hot. I paid 99 cents for most of them, and got a few free at the Green Living Show the last few years. They ARE re-recyclable (is that a word? I guess it is now).

But the ones I like best are made of a light tarp material (plastic coated), and they are larger and have longer handles. I'm sure if I made a pile of all my bags they'd block the front door.

So, it's time to cull---I've had good responses to most of my FreeCycle and ReUseIt posts, so I guess I'll try there first. Someone with a little patience and time to kill can probably clean them up.

UPDATE: Within a few minutes of posting my offer of a dozen used and new shopping bags, I got a response, and the bags were picked up off the porch that very afternoon. A minor step in decluttering...

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