say "no" to bags when shopping

Things are so much clearer when you actively write about something you intend to do, even if it’s embedded in your subconscious. Once it’s out and about, you feel clarity in what you’re doing and you “know” what you’re doing. What you’re committed to do.

For this case, I’ve been ensuring that everytime I’m asked whether I need a bag, I take a moment to reflect on whether I NEED and in most cases, I really don’t. So I reply with a no to them.
That’s the easy bit done, always reviewing on your bag situation when asked, but when people assume you want a bag and start packing it, it’s frustrating on both ends to stop them from doing it. Nonetheless, that’s not going to stop me from saying no to shopping bags, previously I was doing it passively, now I need to actively stop them from doing it, you get used to it, some people are confused on why you want them to take it back out and some are more than happy to save a plastic bag. Nonetheless the goal is to reduce the amount of bags used.

I’ve also began selectively buying dvds and games too. Reading an article about a guy who threw away all his boxes made me review my current dvd collection, it’s pretty big. So keeping things digital will hopefully help me reduce clutter on my bookshelf. Avoiding films I wouldn’t watch or games I wouldn’t play is the key. It does get tough when they are super cheap. I might look into doing rentals. I really need to escape this desire to hoard and collect things. Even innocently buying a dvd will ensure that the future I’ll be questioning why I’ve bought it and only watched it once.

Anyway, dvd will most likely be another 43things, but then again that’s not a clear goal since you can’t really measure it (like this one)

Bob put this on his 43 things and I’ve been meaning to hard core take this on. I’ve been hunting for a decent cloth bag to carry round with me for shopping. Though not had much luck.

However I’ve been saying No to bags recently and I feel good, I don’t end up with loads of bags I’ll never use.

Oh and we’d had a memo at work that’s encouraged us to ask customers if they want a bag or not. Which I’d taken on fully – though I worry I might be annoying customers with it ha.

Everytime I come back home from shopping I realise that I return with a handful of excess shopping bags, these are usually thrown away or put into bad used since I simply have nowhere to put them. I’ve noticed lately that HMV now asks you whether you’d like a bag or not instead of handing you a bag in ensure you’re only getting it if you actually need it. I think the idea is awesome and I’ve started to make sure that I’m saying no when it’s appropriate. So yeah, though this would be a good goal to achieve. Nothing to measure it by really but I suppose I’ll review this in 6 months time and see whether or not I’ve reduced the number of shopping bags I’ve picked up from my room.

I would advise you all to do the same since it does do a little good for the planet, plus people can see what epic films you are getting :p. I’ll think of some more environmental friendly projects to do since I do get a nicer feeling everytime I say no to shopping bags.