Why did I start these blogs? As tools of social change, consumption practices and raising awareness of everyday environmental choices. So far, I'm the only one who visits this blog, but I hope that changes.
Here's my vision: to start an internet petition ro some other process to get corporations large and small to be a little more aware of their environmental impact and make the choices clear to them.
And here's a way to start it:
Currently, Trader Joe's uses exclusively paper bags when bagging up people's purchases. Conversely, they sell a reuseable fabric bag, but for $4. Why don't they sell a cheap environmentally friendly option? They could ask, "For an extra dollar, would you like this reuseable fabric bag? What sort of choice do you think consumers -and at Trader Joe's, overly environmentally conscious consumers- will make?
As an added incentive, Trader Joe's could charge ten cents for every paper bag (usually doubled) -a fraction of the impact of that bag's single-use consumption.
So, I'd like to start a campaign: Trader Joe's, I'm asking you to promote environmentally friendly, cheap, reuseable fabric bags to your consumers. Not the passive, "we offer them in our stores" (at an outrageous, disincentive price of $4 a pop) sort of promotion, but offer them at ring up, make it cheap, and make it clear: $1 for a reuseable fabric bag that you can use again and again, or $.10 for a paper bag that within ten visit amount to that fabric bag?
Let the challenge begin....
