Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Ireland is GREEN

No I am not talking about the color of the land, but the attitude of the people. The stores and shoppers are embracing a environmentally friendly environment and serve as a role model for what we should be doing here in the USA.
Because we stayed at a large private villa for our stay in Ireland, we went to the local grocery store to stock up on things for our kitchen like tea, brown bread, peanut butter and jelly, fruit, cheese, beer, eggs etc. On our first trip into the village grocer, we realized there are no bags, not plastic or paper to put your items in. Instead all the shoppers used produce boxes or recyclable bags that they brought from home or purchased for a euro at the store. A couple of days later we went to the large Tesco (like a super Target or Meiers) and again every shopper had brought their own reusable bags. Every where we went, small villages or large cities like Limerick, everyone was carrying their own reusable bags. I purchased a few Tesco bags for myself and I am using them constantly for everything from groceries to laundry.

Check out this great website where you can read about the damage of using and disposing of plastic bags as well as purchase some great reusable bags.
http://www.reusablebags.com/
I use the Reisenthel Cityshopper (perfect for hauling food to Ravinia) http://www.reusablebags.com/store/reisenthel-cityshopper-artdeco-baroque-sand-p-1118.html
and I have posted before about how much I love the Envirosax bags
http://www.reusablebags.com/store/envirosax-flora-pouch-reusable-shopping-bags-p-1078.html
My goal is to completely eliminate my use of all non biodegradable plastic bags, grocery, produce, laundry etc. A great alternative to plastic trash bags are here http://www.dirtworks.net/Biodegradable-Foodservice-Ware/Biodegradable-Cup-%26-Plates.html
Watch this great video of Tesco's campaign to get shoppers to use alternatives to plastic bags, it's obviously working in Ireland!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

In our effort to go green, Pelco has transitioned to biodegradable "plastic" bags corn-based utensils...kinda taste like egg rolls, but saving the world comes with a price, I guess.

Anonymous said...

Tasty, but don't you feel like you are making a difference?