Tag: Aldi’s

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CLOTH BAGS WON’T SAVE THE PLANET

Are you impressed when you see someone in the checkout line with reusable cloth bags?  I am.  It means the person is conscientious and thoughtful.  They know that our oceans are clogged up with plastic, and it’s destroying the planet.  My problem is forgetting to bring the numerous cloth bags in my trunk into the supermarket. The only time I have the foresight to bring them inside is when I shop at Aldi’s. And that’s because it’s the thing to do there.  My brain is primed to remember cloth bags  because I don’t want to have to pay for plastic ones at that store. But when I get home and look around my house, I wonder how much difference we’re really making.  Plastic is everywhere.   I’m afraid cloth bags won’t save the planet.

Cloth Bags Won't Save The Planet because plastic is everywhere in our society.
Cloth Bags Won’t Save The Planet because there is so much other plastic in our environment.

Those same people who remember to bring cloth bags to Kroger are probably serving  on some charitable committee that furnishes needy moms with disposable diapers.  Or their club organizes a free Christmas present giveaway, with piles of plastic toys for poor children.  Or else they’re volunteering at a food bank, where  bottles of milk, juice, condiments and other edibles are packed  in plastic.  They might volunteer at a soup kitchen which serves food on styrofoam dishes with plastic utensils.  And last but not least, trash bags.  I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t use plastic trash bags.

Back in the 60’s,  we didn’t use much plastic for any of the above.  The grocery store provided paper bags, which were then reused to carry out the trash.  And the trash cans weren’t made of plastic.  We provided our own metal trash cans, picked up by hand each week by the trash collector.  In our house, we wrapped our wet garbage in newspapers.  It was my brother’s chore to carry out the drippy garbage every night after dinner.  If you got a baby doll for Christmas,  it was a rubber dolly with no clothes.  A more upscale doll would have a porcelain head and cloth body. Other toys were made of tin. .  Many were wooden. . My first two children wore cloth diapers.  I did a lot of laundry, but that was the only  expense involved after the initial purchase.  So we didn’t have to feel sorry for women who couldn’t afford disposable diapers lined with plastic, because no one had even heard of them.

Will cloth grocery bags save the planet?  I don’t think so. But there’s hope on the horizon.  Scientists have recently discovered a way to recycle plastics into diesel fuel.. That’s good news, because I don’t think we’re ever going to stop using plastic bags.

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LIBRARY GETS AN A FOR EFFORT

If there is one thing I could never do without, it’s the library. Libraries have always been a place of refuge and joy for me. I grew up walking to the library from the time I was eight years old. That was before a child walking by herself  a few blocks from home wasn’t considered child abuse.  It wasn’t just the library I loved, it was the librarians.  I don’t think I’ve ever met a rude librarian.  They’re unfailingly pleasant, patient, and helpful.   Thank heaven, they were only closed for a short time during the pandemic.  And now that they’re open, they’re doing a fantastic job of following CDC guidelines. Our library gets an A for effort from me.

Did I say they were closed?  Actually, they were sort of open.  You could order print  books online.  Then, when you got to the library, you could call inside, and they would bring the books out  to your car. Is that cool, or not?  And then, just to be safe, they “quarantined” the returned books for three days before letting anyone borrow them again.  You can still use this service if you want to.

Library Gets A for effort during this pandeimic. They are enforcing masks.
Library gets “A” for effort. They’re enforcing mask wearing & following CDC guidelines.

When the library re opened to the public,  they had removed  most  of the furniture and put  Plexiglas barriers all over the place.  No plush, comfy sofas and chairs, or wooden reading desks and chairs.  All of which meant people couldn’t spend hours in the library reading newspapers and magazines, or halfway sleeping. ( Sleeping in the library was banned a few years back).  They do have two or three small, metal tables and  chairs.  These came in handy if you need to sit a minute, which I often do, at my age.

 

Everyone is required to wear a mask, and it’s enforced.   I don’t know how these kind, gentle librarians are able to make everyone mask up, but they do.  Yesterday I saw a couple of teenagers approach the door without masks.  I figured they would get away with it.  But when I got inside, they were wearing the paper masks the library provides.  I’d loved to have seen that transaction.  If these sweet librarians can be enforcers, why can’t the people at Aldi’s and the Dollar Store do the same?  I guess it’s a matter of economics.  The stores don’t want to turn down any extra sales, whereas the library isn’t in it for the money.

Why do I go to the library instead of calling and ordering books?  The same reason I don’t have my groceries delivered.  I like to wander the aisles and see what’s there that I hadn’t thought of.   But I feel 100% safer in the library than I do in the supermarket.  There’s no loud talking from barefaced people. No one crowding behind you at the checkout. No clusters of people clogging the aisles for a chat.  The library is quiet, subdued, and safe.  Our local library gets a an A Plus for observing CDC guidelines during the pandemic.