Carrots, Underwear, and Plastic Bags

Today's post comes from my friend Dan. I hope you enjoy his quirky solution to a recently encountered conundrum! :0) M

You’re probably wondering how I’m going to tie all that together aren’t you?

Inspired in part by this blog and by peace blog, I have been trying a little harder to live an environmentally conscious life. This means, among other things an attempt to use fewer plastic bags. The problem is addressable at the check-out counter by bringing one’s own bags or simply refusing to take a bag when buying just a couple of items that can easily be carried without a bag.

It’s a little tougher when dealing with the packaging of the things you are buying. It seems that everyone, everywhere has decided that their precious product must be protected by a hermetically-sealed, sterile barrier. And so the plastic bags still come into the house, and the option that remains is to try to find a way to reuse the bags.

Well, I’m happy to report that Fruit-of-the-Loom has decided to help us along with that little objective. I was in TJMaxx the other day looking to purchase some new underwear (yes, this blog entry is getting a little too personal!), and I noticed that the Fruit-of-the-Loom variety came in a re-sealable plastic bag! Why this would be the case, I could not fathom. Did they think that I would feel the need to return the underwear to the bag after wearing them? Or perhaps they thought I would take out one pair and want to keep the other pair “fresh” until I was ready to wear them?

But then it struck me: they must be trying to make it easier for me to re-use the plastic bag! I couldn’t help but be impressed with the ecological leanings of the company and decided right then and there that FotL was the brand for me!

I wasn’t immediately sure exactly what to put in my new resealable underwear bag, but I just had to give it a try, if for no other reason than to honor the opportunity that the corporate giant had provided for me. I know it would have been more appropriate to use apples or grapes, but I didn’t have any, so I filled up the bag with carrots and put them in the refrigerator. I ate a carrot this morning and I must tell you that I’ve never had a fresher vegetable in all my life!