The environmental movement

I was walking through Krogers today (for you Westerners, that's a grocery store) and I saw a lady with a shopping cart containing about a dozen reusable grocery bags. I was excited and nearly invited her to be my friend on the spot, but figured that would be weird since we hadn't ever spoken.

Anyway, we ended up being on a similar route through the store, so we crossed paths many times. While I was excited by her evident understanding for the need to reduce the number of plastic bags entering landfills, I was disappointed by what she was putting in her cart.

While she probably didn't use a single plastic bag, I watched her put a box of Capri Sun in her cart. That was a plastic wrap surrounding a cardboard container that housed a half dozen disposable drink containers (along with the disposable straw that I can never get through that hole). Somewhere, I think she missed the point of the reusable bags in her cart.

The point is to minimize waste. Waste doesn't only come from plastic grocery bags.

I don't want this to come off the wrong way. I'm sure that she was a wonderful woman who had great intentions and may have even had a special occassion that necessitated Capri Sun. I know that we didn't take our reusable bags because we are out of garbage bags, so we reuse grocery bags for the purpose. Am I a hipocrite? Sure, but the point that I'm trying to make is that we can take far more action than the popular actions.

I hope to start posting a little more soon, but I've got a struggle. You see, I am struggling to ride to work regularly. First off, it's a long ways and the beginning of the year in a fitness field is a busy time. It's especially busy when you're new to the position, so I haven't quite settled into normal hours yet.

The problem is that I have a blog that goes by the title, "Sans Auto" meaning without car. I have always had a car, but I could say that I was without a car because my wife used it 90% of the time while I found other ways. Now, with the weather being cold and snowy and the route being long, unfamiliar and dark, I drive far more than I would like to. As we look for a house to buy, a reasonable bike commute is important. I think my next post will be about what we're looking for in our next house.