Day One - Impulse Anxiety

Our little project has finally begun. We made it through the day, but not without some anxiety—at least on my part.

At the grocery store, I labored over my choices, trying to pick products with recyclable packaging over non-recyclable, in sizes that made sense both economically and in terms of generating less post-consumer waste. It was difficult, because my local grocery store has just completely changed their layout again--an old trick to get you wandering the aisles, making impulse buys.

I brought my reusable cloth grocery bags, skipped over the small plastic bags for my produce, (leaving my lemons, limes and cucumbers to run loose in the bottom of the cart), and snubbed the pre-packaged baked goods I normally drool over.

And then I got to the checkout counter, and saw a magazine that looked interesting. I had it on the conveyor belt before I could say Brangelina—and just managed to snatch it off before it beeped over the scanner. Whew! Close call.

It made me realize how many things I throw onto that pile in the last few moments of a shopping trip, thus upping my bill--and my future trash volume--with hardly a thought. Those market researchers have really figured us out.

So, here’s Day One’s…

TIP:
Go to the store with a list, and do not to deviate from it, no matter how tempting it might be. Make a pledge not to buy anything from the racks in the checkout line.