FROM AN ARTICLE RECENTLY PUBLISHED IN THE NYT : …Getting people to actually use their bags is not an easy matter. Maximizing the benefits of your tote bag requires changing deeply ingrained behavior, like getting used to taking 30-second showers to lower one’s energy and water use. At present, many of the bags go unused — remaining stashed instead in consumers’ closets or in the trunks of their cars. Earlier this year, KPIX in San Francisco polled 500 of its television viewers and found that more than half — 58% — said they almost never take reusable cloth shopping bags to the grocery store.
![[an inconvenient bag]](http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/WK-AN097_BAGS_c_DV_20080925163421.jpg)
Viktor KoenPhil Rozenski, director of environmental strategies at the plastic bag maker Hilex Poly Co., believes even fewer people remember to use them. Based on consumer surveys conducted by the company, he says roughly the same number of people reuse their bags as bring disposable bags back to the grocery store for recycling — a figure he puts at about 10% of consumers, according to industry data. This month at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, marketing professor Baba Shiv dedicated the first day of a weeklong seminar on green marketing to the “road blocks” facing reusable bags. He says it can take “years and decades” for consumers to change their shopping habits, and only when there’s a personal reward or an obvious taboo associated with the change: “Is it taboo yet to be carrying plastic bags? I don’t think so.”
Hints to change that habit – and get you one step closer to join the new generation of ‘Citizen Green’:
In some cultures it is believed, that a habit should be changed at the rise of a ‘full moon’. I think – don’t waist time, when you notice change is needed – dive into it!
- - Don’t keep your bags stored in the cubby at home – keep your tote bag in the trunk of your car – and keep more than one!
- - Keep a reminder on your grocery list to bring your bag!
- - If you forget your bag in the car and are already in the checkout line – don’t give up, clerks like to support your initiative, run out and get that bag.
- - The rewards some stores, such as Trader Joe’s are offering to those who bring their bag – can be motivating: CHANCES TO WIN A SHOPPING CART OF GROCERIES – WAITING FOR YOU
- - Make it a fun family project – set an example for your children – or even better put them in charge of bringing the bags, when they are out shopping with you!
…. after all there still will be times when despite all good intentions that tote bag won’t be handy – don’t sweat it – choose the greenest bag available – and find another use for it when done shopping. Some stores even allow to return it.
Once you mastered ‘reuse of your tote’, move on to the next area where you can build on your eco-friendly lifestyle… there are lots more ways to contribute without much effort.
