When Plastic Bags Bugged Me

For the last few months, I have become sensitive  towards not using use-and-throw plastic bags and vessels. If I have to buy something on my way back from office, I use my lunch bag. At home, I have a shelf full of reusable bags which comes handy for planned shopping. Still, I forget to take cloth bags at about 50% occasions.

Yesterday, I had to buy five things for home. I went shopping with a cloth shopping bag hoping that I will not take plastic carry bags from the shop. Check this picture,  when I returned I took five plastic bags back home. It is absolutely alarming to see this. I felt ashamed and helpless on observing this.

• One for packing the red chillies

• One for packing eggs

• Two bags for the company packed oil

• One for packing idly batter

This is after rejecting two more plastic bags offered by the shopkeeper.

• One as an additional layer of protection for the idli batter

• One very big bag to carry all these

If I have taken these, my plastic bag count would have been seven. 

I need not talk about the ill effects of plastic bags here. I am sure everyone has that awareness now. Our way of packing has been so dependent on these bags that we end up throwing a lot of plastic bags to the garbage every day.

In the good old days,  when plastic bags were not commercialized widely, things were very different and environment friendly. People would have carried a big cloth bag to hold all items shopped. All those small dry items(chilli & egg here) would have been packed in a newspaper. Foe eggs, people used to carry a container designed to carry egg. Oil was always taken home in a stainless steel container. After this incident, I have decided to carry more than just a big shopping bag while  going shopping.

After all, in the name of modernization, hygiene and convenience we are rapidly losing our opportunity to live in this world. Some small steps required from each of us.