Some of the cashiers at the grocery store I frequent now understand panniers, but it’s been a slow education process. Let’s give more lessons!

If y’all are into crafts you can check out the Make Magazine podcast on homemade messenger bags. I think this blog did a story on homemade messenger bags before and it’s the same process to make your Target bags into grocery getters.

Memphis also has a really awesome coop called Revolutions (http://revolutionsmemphis.com).
They’re very sustainable and try to recycle all the parts or metal that aren’t usable anymore.

I’m glad to see this post and I hope more folks out there will learn to reduce instead of consuming so much. I truly do agree that less is more.

At the grocery stores here in Tampa, there is not only a display of branded canvas shopping bags at each cashier, but there is also an electronic message at each terminal : “Save a bag – use reusable bags!”

My wife and I have a huge collection of bags and baskets we use, and invariably the cashier and bagger both ask “what do you want us to do with these?” as if we’ve offended them somehow by bringing our own bags. Or, they’ll try to wrap groceries in plastic BEFORE putting them in the canvas bags — they are just not getting it!

By the way, reusable bags make a great (and inexpensive) impromptu Christmas or birthday gift. I think more people would use such things if they were presented with their own set!

People assume grocery sacks are free, but they still cost the grocers. The price of the shopping bags is built into the price of what they sell, same as the cost of paying employees, etc.

I will admit that I do intentionally get plastic grocery sacks on occasion. They’re great for making my clothes and gadgets water resistant within my panniers or backpack on a rainy day. They’re also good for lining small bathroom trash bins. That said, I only get plastic bags because I intend to put them to some other use later on.

As far as the computer rant… Her saying that upgrading the processor to a faster one requires going out and getting a new computer is as inaccurate. You might need more parts than just the faster chip, but computers are as modular as bicycles are. If you want to upgrade to a 10-speed cassette on your STI-Equipped road bike, you might need a narrower chain, new shifter and maybe a new RD, but not a new bike.

Noah, while I must admit my ignorance to your nerd rant (but glad you put it out there ), I am right there with you on hybrid production, among other things. I got some free canvas bags from a company conference last year, and while they still had to be made, at least I could put them to good use afterwards, AND not have to buy a new one that’s all trendy looking. When I go to the more “hippy” grocery stores (like Trader Joe’s or Sprouts), the clerks say “thanks” for bringing my own bags – if I go to Safeway, they ask me which aisle I got them from…

http://www.bikerowave.org

http://www.bicyclekitchen.com

http://www.bikeoven.com

I’ve only been to the bikerowave, a great place in santa monica. There are plenty of donated bikes around, but they don’t quite have the man power to recycle bikes for sale. They exist for spare parts or as project bikes for the mechanically inclined. Great place to hang out and learn wrenching skills.

</nerd rant>

I’m also right there with you on the reusable canvas bags. I use a decade-old duffel bag for my grocery getting. Then there’s the rest of the green consumerism frenzy. Don’t even get me started on the woes of manufacturing a hybrid gas/electric car…

Great points.

Chris Moran