Shopping Bags

I know, it's a bit off-topic compared to my usual rantings, but a change is good, right?!
The new shopping bag laws have caused us all to think more about being prepared for shopping. I've had 'green' shopping bags for years, but very rarely used them for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I didn't keep them in the car cos when you come home with food in them, you unpack them and then what? That's right, you stuff them in between the fridge and the wall, or any other 'out of the way' place in your kitchen. Then, when you make your next trip to the supermarket where are your bags? That's right, still stuffed in that hole in the kitchen. So you have a choice to either be an environmental vandal or pay another $1 for yet another bag that you know is going to end up in that collection stuffed between the fridge and the wall. I usually chose the vandal option. The other reason I rarely used my green bags was that I've had a very small kitchen bin for a few years and the shopping bags make perfect bin liners. I thought I was being friendly to the environment for doing this because I'm reusing - that's one of the R's isn't it? - reduce, reuse, recycle. So I have a beautiful plastic bag holder that was loving painted by my very crafty sister (PKE) and is always chokkers with bags.
Late last year my local Wooworth's supermarket took a very hard line on the whole plastic bag issue. They made the express lanes plastic bag free - why do that when the people who use the express lane are doing last minute, in-between-big-shops shopping. These people (of which I am one) are obviously not the most organised shoppers, otherwise they would have purchased everything they need on their weekly shopping trip. So why expect that they'll remember to have a green bag with them?! Anyway, back to Woolies. If I visit the store after picking up the girls from school both the express lanes are plastic bag free. Then they will have 2 other checkouts open (go figure - this has to be one of the busiest times of the day and they just won't open any more checkouts!). Of these 2 one will be plastic bag free. So if you need to shop-between-shops and are silly enough to do it just after school when millions of other people need to go to the supermarket, you have to make do with having only one checkout available to you if you need plastic bags! And remember this checkout is also being used by people who are doing their weekly shopping, so it's a very long wait. I actually called the Manager down to the service desk and explained how ridiculous I thought his particular logic was. I had been standing in a line with (and i'm not exaggerating, I did actually count!) 10 other people (plus associated children, trolleys, baskets) for about 15 minutes and they didn't open another checkout! I explained, very politely, to this man that if I came here again at that time of day and encountered the same situation then I would not come back. Two days later I went back after school and it was exactly the same! He said to me that it wasn't their choice, that the Govt was forcing them to do this. What a load of crap! I go to lots of other supermarkets and they don't operate the same way. Express lanes in other Woolies are not all plastic bag free. They have more checkouts open, especially when they can see a queue building.
I think some of the checkout operators are punishing my generation (and older ones) for damaging the earth to such an extent that now they have to pack fabric bags that are much heavier to lift to the end of the checkout than the plastic ones were. Ok, I get it, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that we stuffed up the planet. I'm sorry that we've polluted. I'm sorry that we thought plastic was a miracle invention that solved the problem of chopping down trees to make shopping bags. But enough already! Relax! Let me have some plastic bags for my bin without making me feel like I've just sliced the throat of a baby seal! Cos if you don't give them to me, I'm going to have to buy plastic bin liners from Aisle 8, and they're probably going to take even longer to break down than the shopping bags.
What I actually wanted to talk about - got a bit off track there! - was that I have quite deliberately purchased green bags from various supermarkets. When I shop at Woolies (which is very rare now, but I do every now and then) I make sure I give the checkout operator my Coles and Foodland bags! When I go to Coles I make sure I give them the Woolies and Foodland bags to fill first! Am I just being pig-headed? Probably.
I'm not overly loyal to any one chain of supermarkets. I like Foodland cos they use (mostly) South Australian produce and I like to support my (almost) neighbours. They also have Bagel Boys bagels and I just loooooove them! I like Woolies (kind of) cos they have these boxes of Apple Bars that the girls really like for school - home brand of course so I can't get them anywhere else. Also my local Woolies is next to Big W, so if I have to go to Big W it just makes sense. And I like Coles for......not sure really! There is one not far from home and it used to be a Bi-Lo so it's nice and small. I like that. It's quick to get around. It does have less choice of brands but I can live with that. Oh yeah, I really like the Woolies at a bigger centre near me - they've had a major upgrade and have self-service checkouts! Yeah baby! I don't have to talk to checkout operators who want to know how my day is going (they don't know what they're in for - I actually said one day "I just found out my husband has been living a double life and after 10years of marriage we've separated, so my day isn't great"!!!) or they want to know what I've got planned for the weekend (my BF actually said to a young guy that asked her this question "why, do you want to ask me out?!")....I know they're doing their job but why can't their market research people ask me what I want - cos I'd sure as heck tell them I don't want 15 year olds prying into my private life! Anyway, a local Woolies has self-service. You scan it all yourself, pay by cash, card, get cash out, split the payment across two cards if you need to - you can do it all yourself and you don't have to speak to a single person! I LOVE that!
I thought of a term for myself this morning - I'm a green bag whore! I'll get them from anyone, anywhere. I even have one from the local library that I use at the supermarket. Last week when I was shopping I saw a lady who had co-ordinated bags! They were all exactly the same! I couldn't believe it. I thought it was quite sad, cos she's obviously organised enough to have bought them all at the same time, and always has them with her. I like to be a bit more random and surprising with my shopping bags. I have bags that are purple, pink, green black and blue. I have a very colourful trolley and now I'm actually remembering to put them in the boot after I've unpacked the groceries.
But I still won't go to the local Woolies unless I really really have to.
Happy shopping!