Paper or Plastic? Neither!

The City of San Francisco is considering banning plastic bags from local grocery stores.

So, which one is better: Paper or Plastic? That is a tough one for me. I think I am sitting with Umbra on this one: neither.

I'm sorry if I sound "way out there" on this one. So be it. I'm also a stay-at-home dad who uses cloth diapers. Call me crazy- it just feels right to me.

Anyway, we always try and remember our cloth grocery bags when we go to the store. We have a nice assortment of bags from cool places we have visited and things we have done. They are fun and sporty, I think.

The only problem we have encountered with using cloth bags is educating the bagger. Usually, I just send him away to bag someone else's groceries. Let's face it: baggers are trained to do it the way the store wants it done. Cloth bags can carry more than three tin cans of beans, but there is no time for such lessons in the world of grocery baggers.

Walmart is fun because they don't even have a good place to stand and bag your groceries. You have to do it atop the revolving plastic bag carousel. Now THAT is a challenge!

I think sometimes I use my cloth bags just to see the confused look on the teller's face when I insist that the bagger use the cloth ones. They really do look at you like you just stepped off of a space ship from some other galaxy. ("Please insert the specimens into these containers for inspection upon our return to Zezendorf!") Maybe this only happens around here, I don't know...

Hey, just think about it this way: Does it really look attractive to be hauling these ugly plastic or brown paper bags around? Come on people, get with it! Shopping bags must match one's persona and whit. Look around for about a dozen nice-looking shopping bags and keep them in the trunk of your car. Then, the next time you hear "paper of plastic," you can smile and say "What - me? Wear those out? Try these on for size!" And hey, you might end up saving a tree or two along the way while you're at it...