I'd love to buy a new bag!

I knew that it would happen sooner or later...I was bound to start blogging. I suppose I've been waiting for something to hit me courage, inspiration or insomnia. In the end, my blog begins with shopping.

I was reasonably early and eager adopter of reusable shopping bags. I purchased them from the local grocery stores that I frequent. I felt good about the environmental impact of what I was doing when I bought the bags and as an added bonus I had fewer bags to carry into the house (they hold so much more, don't they?). And I love bags. I bought lovely organic shopping bags for my daughter's teachers that were silk-screened with "we don't inherit the earth, we borrow it from our children."

But I lamented the loss of my convenient and endless supply of plastic bags that I used to line my green bin, dog walks and wet bathing suits. But I adapted well. I buy biodegradable bags for the green bin and my dog and rely on my hearty supply of paper and reusable bags for everything else. I can accept that it's my fault when I forget my shopping bags and don't mind buying another one, I add it to the bin in my car.

In recent weeks local grocery stores have started to charge 5 cents for the traditional plastic bags. We've all known that it was coming and for the most part, the effort to reduce plastic bags has been applauded. I didn't expect that this new 5 cent bag buy would extend beyond the grocery store to include department stores, home accessory stores, toy stores, etc.

This evening I was at a local home store to replace my oven mitts and was surprised when the cashier asked me if I wanted to buy a plastic bag for 5 cents to carry home my purchase. I asked her what the store does with the money they are now charging for their branded plastic bags. She told me that they have recently changed all of their lighting to compact florescent energy efficient environmentally friendly bulbs from the monies collected from selling their bags. And this is what brought me home to blog. Implementing environmentally conscious changes and policies for ourselves - home and business - is responsible. When a business adapts such practices I can commend the effort and price that it takes which is often formidable. It is also the cost of doing business. It is about being responsible and acting in a way that would make your customers feel good about shopping at your store. It is often implementing such practices that would make a customer shop at your store rather than the one down the street when they recognize that you are doing something that they believe in too.

Ok, to get to my point. I would by a bag, for 5 cents if I really needed one or if I kind of needed one and was told that the 5 cents from my bag purchase was going to support and environmental cause or initiative. The way that it was explained to me this evening was that the 5 cents from my possible bag purchase will be put toward offsetting the cost of the new environmentally friendly lights in the store. Really?

I am an entrepreneur and small business owner. I have adopted environmentally friendly initiatives wherever possible. Three years ago I stopped using plastic bags at consumer shows in favor of paper bags. I supported the "Plastic Ain't My Bag" foundation. I ship my products in recycled and recyclable packaging and off-set my carbon footprint with Zero Footprint. None of these changes were cost-effective, but rather, they were all more expensive. But it was important to me, my business and my customers. I did not raise my prices at all but instead file it under "the cost of doing business".

So I said thank you, but no. I tucked by new oven mitts under my arm and tossed them onto the passenger seat of my car.

I would love to buy a new bag. Every girl loves a new bag. But you can buy your own lightbulbs.