I am more than a little amused by the BBC article on the upscale shopping bags.  Don't get me wrong.  I think that a reusable shopping bag is a great idea.    Of course, it has been around for quite a while, so my amusement comes from that the idea that it is being treated as the latest rage, an upscale fashion accessory, etc.  There is a wonderful grocery store chain in Chicago that has been offering sturdy cotton canvas shopping bags to its customers for years.  They are large enough to hold a standard paper bag worth of groceries, with comfortably wide handles, and the last time I purchased one, which was about a year ago, they were about $5.00.  I use them in stores that are not part of the Chicago chain, even though they carry the name of that store emblazoned on the side.  And, surely there are people out there that remember the string bags that our grandparents used.  Let's hope that this is a fad that catches on.  The hype may be a bit silly, but as my grandmother told me a long time ago, when it comes to saving things, every little bit helps.

I was duped into reading this Grist list because I misread Rowing as Rowling. Yes, I'm a tad HP obsessed this week, but who isn't?  I really wanted there to be something environmentally beneficial about Harry, but no luck yet.  Oh well, thanks for the good work anyway.  And I didn't put my new book in a paper or plastic bag to bring it home!

well, what I do with groceries is fill the shopping cart back up after I payed for the stuff, bring in out the the car and fill up some cardboard boxes I have in the car.  

I saw this in Germany.   Paper or Plastic?   Neither.

It's good!