A few weeks ago I was standing in line at Staples, waiting to purchase some supplies for the LDOTFMOT. There were only two people in front of me but the wait seemed rather long, considering no one had more than three items.
I started looking around--candy bars, computer magazines, mechanical pencils, refrigerator of coca-cola product, rack of reusable bags with the Staples logo printed in green ink on them...huh?
This last item struck me as odd. Staples just doesn't really seems like a place that you can shop at and think you are being green, or, at the very least, it doesn't seem like a place you would think to get a reusable bag at.
I began to wonder about that bag. I wasn't super close to it so I couldn't get a detailed look, but--I wondered--was it made from recycled materials? I hoped so. But I had a feeling it wasn't.
That got me thinking. Pretty much every store that I go into now has a reusable bag available that's emblazoned with their logo and some sort of slogan about saving the earth. How many of these bags were made from recycled materials and how many were made from raw materials? How much damage has been done to the Earth by all these stores jumping on the green bandwagon? Rushing to make another item for their customers to purchase, this time (ironically) a reusable bag?
It seems silly.
I can picture the marketing people sitting in their meeting rooms saying, "Hey, people really seem to be serious about recycling and all that now. How can we make some money off of that?" "OH! I know, lets sell reusable bags in our stores!" "Great idea, Joe! Get us a quote on 2 million of those."
I think most people have bags that can be used for carrying home groceries in their possession already. I know I do. Plus, I just find it ridiculous that every retail establishment I seem to go into these days is offering these reusable shopping bags.
It seems OK for grocery stores to offer these types of bags with their logos--a customer goes there once a week, maybe more--they will use that bag. But Staples? Seriously? I go there maybe once or twice a year. If I was thinking about purchasing a reusable shopping bag I certainly am not going to get one branded with Staples' logo. What am I? Their walking billboard?
Also, are all those reusable bags really displacing that many plastic bags? I don't think they are. I think the reusable bags are just adding to the pile of stuff we already have. Stuff that will ultimately end up in a landfill.
What do you think about this? Am I being a big grump? Should I just be grateful that corporations are letting even a tiny eco-conscious idea glimmer in their stores? Even if their motivations are not pure?
Or am I right and this is just another example of business-based hypocrisy?
On the bright side, maybe these 'green' bags will be less likely to
kill sea turtles.
