On one afternoon a few months ago, I realized something as I cut the tags off the clothes I bought at Old Navy the day before. In the small space between my dresser and the closet door, there was a shopping bag FULL of plastic bags I’ve collected from various shopping trips over the past year. I was just about to add another bag from my latest purchase, but at that moment I had my realization.  I looked into the closet and pulled out a printed canvas bag that I’d normally use to pack my swimsuit in when I’m headed out to the lake. This bag, I decided, will be kept in my car from now on.

At first it was hard to break the habit of using plastic bags. Even though my canvas bag was in plain view on the passenger seat, I easily forgot about it and walked into stores without it. However, on days I was forgetful I would ask the cashier not to bag the item knowing that I would return to my car and the canvas bag would be there.

I hadn’t told anyone about my efforts to reduce my consumption of plastic bags, so when my birthday rolled around last month, I was surprised that my Godmother had bought me a canvas bag that was printed with I “heart” Recycling!  Now with my two reusable bags, I am able to eliminate plastic bags that would normally clutter my bedroom, and eventually become trash in a landfill.  I’ve recently had some successful shopping trips where my canvas bags have come in handy for small purchases: a package of stickers and a few sheets of scrapbook paper from Michael’s; a package of six outdoor coasters I found on sale at Bed Bath & Beyond; and of course, another pair of shorts from Old Navy. That’s three plastic bags eliminated from one shopping trip.  I’ve made progress already and you can, too! It’s a great thing to teach children, as well.  After all, God does expect us to be good stewards of this earth.