I'm a big fan of the new 4 Rs: refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle. It's important to add that fourth R since I think that a lot of people are conditioned to take whatever is handed to them without really thinking about it. Or, if they think about it, they don't want to be that person. And I think that there are a lot of times where you shouldn't be that person, especially if it means doing things intended to "send a message" to companies which basically involve being a jerk to front line employees so that, hopefully, the people who make the policies will eventually get it. (One example was someone that suggested that if an item had excess packaging, shoppers should take the packaging out of the item and leave it on the counter so that the companies will "get the message." And so that already stressed out retail employees will have the joy of having to clear off the counter while angry customers look on. Good sentiment, bad execution.)
But I digress...
One of the ways I try to be environmentally friendly is by reducing one use items whenever possible. Reusable cups are a no-brainer, obviously, but I'm also trying to get in the habit of using reusable plastic snack bags at places like Starbucks or Panera.
Panera has been great with it, though I admit that I usually just order pastries "for here" so that I get them on a plate and shove them in my bags. Starbucks has been less so. The first time, I was told it was a health code violation. The second time was great, because not only was the barista cool with putting the pastries in the bags, but she also asked about them because she'd been looking at them.
The most recent time was the most bizarre, though. I ordered pastries and I asked if the barista could just hand them to me, since I had reusable snack bags. She paused for a minute and said "Oh, no, these are really sticky and they'll get your bags dirty, so I'll just put them in a paper pastry bag."
I'm a little ashamed to admit that I didn't want to make a scene, so I just took the paper bags. Still, this really proves to me why it's important to use make it a point to use reusable products whenever possible. It's important to use fewer single use items, but it's even more to normalize the behavior. I hope that, sometime in the future, we'll reach a point where at least half of the population consistently refuses single use items.
