Thursday, December 1, 2011

No I don’t want a bag, thanks

I’ve never been overly environmentally conscious. But lately I’ve been feeling somewhat angry at being surrounded by a complete lack of regard for wastage.

In many office, we for some reason have a shortage of tea-spoons. So instead of buying more, or everyone just keeping theirs for the day, we go through literally HUNDREDS of plastic spoons each day, with people letting them pile up in the sink. Likewise, our kitchen recycling bin is frequently full of food scraps and things that are very clearly not recyclable. And the rubbish bins full of recyclables. Sigh.

But what baffles me most is when you go to a supermarket and purchase one or two items, and the conversation goes something like this…

Me: I don’t need a bag thanks
Cashier: Proceeds to put items in a bag
Me: Actually, I don’t need a bag thanks
Cashier: Looks at me strangely

I’m not sure whether this is because that there is a high proportion of cashier’s that don’t speak brilliant English, or whether they just can’t believe that someone wouldn’t take a bag, but I find the whole thing very frustrating.

Recycling isn’t that hard. It’s not hard to carry a plastic bag in your handbag for groceries either. Plus, more importantly, reusing things like jiffy bags, glass jars etc often helps save you money. And everyone likes to save money. Fact.

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