PAPER OR PLASTIC??

Who knew there was so much controversy around whether you wanted paper or plastic bags to bring home your groceries ... or whatever else you bought at the store.  This is pretty crazy!!

I understand the problem with plastic.  There are just entirely too many bags floating around the country.  I blame a LOT of that on the grocery stores.  For years now, the store baggers have been putting two or three items in each bag.  I was forever telling them to FILL THEM UP!!  Why are you using so many bags?  A trip to the grocery store always resulted in ten or twelve bags by the time I got home.  Course I only go once a month.

Mostly, that worked for me because I reused them as wastebasket liners.  What am I going to use now?  I guess I'll have to buy the heavier, more expensive variety in the store, STILL making for more plastic in the local dump.  Most of the time I ask for paper because they make good cage liners for Jonathan's little abode.  I don't have a problem paying for them, but many people can't afford that little extra cost.

I also understand they are a problem for wildlife, but can someone tell me how thousands of bags get into the ocean?  I'm thinking most of those bags end up in the trash.  Why aren't we holding the trash companies responsible for everything that flies out of their trucks?  Just take a drive by our local dump and you will see the evidence plastered against the fence for miles!!!  How about recycling those bags?  This entire County does NOT recycle.  They say it's just too expensive.  The only thing we are allowed to recycle is cardboard boxes.

Having an invite to Thanksgiving Dinner from my friend, I volunteered to bring the rolls, since everything else had been taken care of.  That meant another trip to the store.  I scrounged around in my truck and finally found a filthy, worn out reusable bag to take with me.  

When I got to the store, I promptly forgot and left it in the truck.  It would have been embarrassed to have anyone put stuff in it anyway.  I found quite a few other things I needed for the upcoming Rally in Indio, so I filled my basket.  It wasn't until I got to the checkout counter that I realized they had no bags whatsoever!!  None, zero ... zip!!

Actually, there were these tiny reusable ones ... it would have taken seven to get my stuff home.  That would be another $7.00.  I turned around and wandered down the aisles in the liquor section until I found an almost empty box.  I snagged that puppy and found one more they had just unloaded in the picnic supply aisle.  Take THAT baggers!!!

As I came down the aisle to checkout, I heard someone say RATS ... forgot my bags.  I pointed to the stack of half empty boxes in the booze section and smiled.  She got the hint.  I did have a fleeting thought as I entered the check stand they might not let me TAKE their boxes, but the nice man said no problem.  I'm pretty sure paper bags (if they had them) would have cost less than the boxes I absconded with, but at least I didn't have to unload everything into my truck, to have it roll all over until I got home, whereupon I would use my plastic bags to get it in the house.  

On my way to the truck, I DID see a little old lady unloading a bunch of canned goods into her car, with NO bags.  I imagine when she gets home, she will have to make twelve trips to get her car unloaded.  What about these people who can't afford the reusable bags?  

PAPER or PLASTIC is now a thing of the past.  It takes oil to make plastic and trees to make paper.  I guess we decided trees are more expendable!!

On a happier note, I've been doing needlework most of my life, always holding the frame in my hands.  I have a little clip-on lamp/magnifying glass that has fallen off on Cooper's head so many times, he refuses to sit on the couch with me if I pick up the frame.  At long last, I found the perfect holder.  It's got a HUGE magnifying glass, more light than I could ever use and it just sits on the floor.  Cooper is a happy camper!!

It being the night of Magic Kingdom, I decided to whip up a little treat for the peasants ... cracker candy.  You may have heard of it ... maybe not.  It's an old Southern recipe, or so I was told, made from saltine crackers.  Weird, right?  But you know me, I'll try anything once!  It's similar to English Toffee, but much easier to make and quite tasty!!  I'm hoping to soothe the savage peasants.

I'm off to look for grocery bags.  I think I remember getting a couple of bags at quilt stores that will work, if I can find them.  I know I have a couple in the Jeep, but if I can't remember to take them in to the store, I will NEVER remember to switch them from the truck BACK to the Jeep.  Or maybe I'll just take my stack of plastic bags and let the baggers reuse those.  Won't they just enjoy that!!!