Unofficially Optimistic

I am not a plastic bag

 Posted by oots on July 19, 2007

This little bag is causing quite the stir on the interweb this week. Over on twitter and pownce, people were talking.  This bag is sold at Whole Foods apparently; unfortunately we don’t have one of those up here so I am TOTALLY MISSING OUT!!  The horror.

I have been using bags made of sturdy, recycled/recyclable material sold at my local grocery for awhile now.  (Pssst, I just got three for you Grey, all I need to do is get to the post office!)

Seems this little bag is not without controversy.  Just read the post and comments over on The Alternative Consumer.  (Feel free to wander around the “related posts” for the full back story, and then find your way to their recommendations for where to get truly eco-friendly bags.  What a fantastic site!)

Anyway, I understand the controversy to an extent — if we’re going to do an eco-friendly bag, it should be made of eco-friendly materials and dyes.  This one is made of cotton, therefore, just not quite good enough.

Or is it?  Good enough, that is.

I’ve been thinking lately a lot about the phrase “Perfection is the enemy of Good Enough” which is apparently a misinterpretation, misunderstanding, and/or misquote of Voltaire’s quote , “The perfect is the enemy of the good.”  Whatev. 

My point is that while I understand the tree hugger agenda, better is not perfect but it’s … better.  Seeing celebrities toting this bag may make purists puke, but our philosophy here is “make a small change daily.”  That is, every day, wake up and try to do a little better for yourself, for the planet.  Enlightenment and perfection don’t happen overnight, they probably never happen at all unless you’re the Dalai Lama or something. 

I am sure that some people are going to use this as fashion rather than for it’s intended purpose.  Oh who cares.  Maybe it’ll make people think twice about what these plastic bags are doing to the environment.  We all have to get there in our own time, doesn’t matter how that happens exactly.

Once I used plastic bags.  Then I got a reusable bag.

Sometimes I forget my bag.

Sometimes, if I am not doing a big shop, I say, “I don’t need a bag.”  Did you know that it’s perfectly legal, upon paying for your toothpaste and loaf of bread and being handed a receipt, to PUT THEM IN YOUR HAND AND WALK RIGHT OUT OF THE STORE?!!  It’s true.  I’ve tried this to much success.

Anyway.  Trends, celebrities and fashion may be annoying to some, but they can also be extremely influential.  Hey, end of the day, it’s not a plastic bag.

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