Where to Start: Use Reusable Grocery Shopping Bags

Reduce, reuse, recycle.  Maybe the best place to start is reusable bags.  A lot of people use reusable bags now.  Otherwise, you end up paying to buy plastic or paper bags at the store and then having to recycle them or throw them away later.  Plastic waste is made from oil and creates garbage and pollution in our oceans.  Your goal is to throw away as little as you can.

There are 2 key steps to remember to use reusable bags:

1. Put the bags in your car.  I keep at least 3-4 in my trunk at all times.
2. Bring the bags into the store.  If you forget them, go to the car and get them!

If you can just do these two steps you are on your way to using reusable bags!  I make sure I put them in my car immediately after emptying them.  That way I don’t have to remember them later.  Invest in a few that you like and wouldn’t mind carrying around in your car.  It seems wrong to buy something to help you “Reduce, reuse, recycle” but sometimes you need the right equipment to get started.

Once they are in your car, you just need to bring them in when you go in the store.  At first I forgot them, but after making myself walk back to the car a few times, I started remembering to bring them.

You also need to wash out your reusable bags occasionally.

Watch this video for directions on how to wash your bags: How to clean your reusable bags

Basically it says you fill your sink with hot soapy water, then swish your bags around in it a bit.  Then rinse and hang to dry.

The key to taking steps to stop climate change is to find the things that you can do, and do your best to do them.  Start small and see where it takes you.  Don’t get bogged down in the million things that you should be doing.  Just start somewhere and improve as you go along.