Friday, January 25, 2013

Green Living Tip #7 - Use Paper Bags

                                                                        Recycled Kraft Flat Handle Grocery Bag
I know I have written in previous tips that you should use re-usable shopping bags.  But I also know that sometimes, you don't have them with you.  My tip for how to deal with this is to ask for a paper bag. 

When I get a paper bag at the grocery store, I do not let that bag go to waste.  In my town, we recycle paper and cardboard on Wednesdays. I use the paper bags from the grocery store as the bag to recycle my junk mail, newspapers, catalogues and magazines. I place one of the paper bags next to my garbage can to make recycling easy.  When sorting the mail, I place all of the junk mail, etc, into the paper bag.  This does two things for me. First, it makes recycling easy because I have something to put the paper items into - and its free. Second, it prevents these items from going into the trash can because the paper bag for recycling is next to it; it reminds me to recycle!

If I get a small paper bag at the pharmacy or deli, I try to re-use it for lunches or I place it into the paper recycling bag next to the trash can. 

As you can see, you can turn a moment of forgetfulness into a resource for other green living techniques- recycling.

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