Precycling’s better than recycling

Precycling.  A new term I just read on iVillage.com used to describe the concept of choosing goods with less packaging waste.  It falls under the concept of “reducing” in the EPA’s Reduce, Reuse, Recycle slogan, but I like the “pre” part of it.    This reminds us that we are supposed to consider the waste implications before we buy something. 

These days there are so many choices – especially at the grocery store.   You can buy packaged food as single servings or in containers large enough to serve an army.    Last summer, I was lucky enough to meet a wonderful family of four from Venezuala.  Veronica, the mother, stunned me when she mentioned that preparing meals for her family in the US generated four times more garbage than preparing the same meals back home.  I still can’t quite imagine how they do it, and I’m sure she can’t quite imagine why we are so wasteful.   Clearly, we have a long way to go toward reducing waste in this nation, but precycling is certainly a good step we can take as individuals right away.

 At Back2Tap we sell reusable bottles and bags to reduce the use of disposable plastic bottles and bags.

Do you have reusable bag-nesia?

I just heard this term today – bagnesia, and I love it! As far as I can tell, this is the number one complaint about reusable bags. Everyone has trouble remembering to bring them into the store with them.

Last year, I tried to “green” up my life.   In addition to avoiding bottled water, I decided to eliminate disposable bags from our lives.   As committed to this goal as anyone could be, I still couldn’t remember to bring the bags into the store – EVER!   I came up with two coping mechanisms.  For small loads, I carry a tiny nylon bag in its own stuff sack in my purse at all times.  For larger loads, I unload my cart at the checkout and then sprint to the car to get my reusable bags.  I have always gotten back with my reusable bags before the checker finishes scanning the groceries. 

I am happy to report that after 6 months of this dash to the car routine, sometimes in the rain, I have finally started remembering to bring the bags into the store with me.  Guess that’s how long it took me to make this new behavior a habit!

Now if I could just keep the checkers from loading things into plastic bags when I’m not looking!   Sometimes I wonder if they get paid by the bag instead of by the hour.  I’ve received more than one withering glare when I declare, a second too late: “NO BAGS, PLEASE – I HAVE MY OWN!”