I've got a bit of a thing about plastic supermarket carrier bags, I really don't like them. Apparently we use some obscene number like 10 billion a year in the UK alone, they take hundreds of years to break down in landfill, and release disgusting toxins whilst they're decomposing.
Now I'm very lucky where I live in that I can walk to my local supermarket so am able to make great use of my trusty steed - the old shopping trolley. I've had this particular trolley for about seven years and it has served me very well. It's not your usual tartan jobbie, oh no, it is a very fetching shade of blue with blue wheels and lots of shiny chrome. We bought it from Lakeland (www.lakeland.co.uk) and although it wasn't cheap at the time it has repaid the money time and time again. I can't imagine how many hundreds of supermarket carrier bags it has saved me using, not to mention developing a bad back and / or arm injuries from the weight of the shopping. My local supermarket is one of the 'pile 'em high and sell 'em cheap' German supermarkets where you think twice about having a plastic carrier because you have to pay for them. I think this is an excellent idea and wish all supermarkets would follow their example as this would definitely cut down on the use of plastic bags and their subsequent pollution of the environment.
With the warmer weather now arrived I get out and about more and don't always want to be dragging my shopping trolley with me (not the easiest things to manoeuvre onto public transport!!), so, having been hugely inspired by some of the wonderful craft blogs about, I've started making myself some cloth shopping bags. I come across some wonderful vintage fabrics in my travels which have really funky patterns and designs and I've used some of them to make a selection of cloth bags (see my photo album on the left for pictures). Most of these fold up easily so they can be slipped into another bag when not being used and I really like the idea that I'm reducing the need for a plastic bag, reusing my cloth bag time and again, and recycling a piece of vintage fabric. It's not often I can manage the three R's (reduce, reuse, recycle) in one fell swoop. Some of these bags are also for sale in my etsy shop (link on the side bar).
Yay! You have a blog. I bought one of your corsages through Samantha. I love it. Its gorgeous. You are very talented!
Charlotte
xxx
Posted by: charlotte@hopeandfaith | 05/02/2007 at 02:51 PM