You might have experienced guilt showing up at T & C without your re-usable shopping bag. Often you hear people in line apologizing to the checker for not bringing bags. To all appearances, it seems the same guilt doesn’t arise at other local stores when showing up without a bag.

The opportunity to chat with managers at Rite-aid, Safeway and Ace gave me the insight that while more consumers were bringing bags, management wasn’t necessarily encouraging their employees to ask if the customer had brought their own.

It appears that we as consumers need to be the smart ones instead of being reminded or guilted into responsible consumer ways by local stores. If we are really intent on reducing the plastic and paper bag distribution in our stores we have to do the simple task of remembering to bring bags everywhere we shop.

It’s easy to keep bags on your bike or in the car for other types of purchases that you might not want your groceries mixed with – pharmacy, hardware, clothes or sundries.

As we head into summer when we have lots of visitors and tourists supporting our shops, set an example by being a savvy and thoughtful consumer. Bringing bags is an easy habit to form and can only benefit our “Green Isle.”

Katy Krokower

Baker Hill