Bag Hierarchy

I may have been observed ranting around my house on Saturday morning yelling "Where is the Jamie Oliver Bag?"  

This cannot be confirmed as I was home alone.

I needed the Jamie Oliver bag as I was headed to a farmers market with a hip friend.  

One therefore obviously needs a hip bag.

As an Urban, Green, Eco-friendly, Hipster Family (UGEHF) we have amassed a number of reusable bags.

We like many other UGEHF's use these when shopping anywhere and everywhere.

So we can save the earth.

Except when we forget to put them back in the car and have to use plastic.  

Then we slink out of the store with our heads lowered lest any other UGEHF's see us.  

We vow to weave the plastic bags into hip waistcoats or hats or doormats.

So we can save the earth.

Alas.  Not all bags are equal. 

So on Saturday I "needed" the JO bag made with recycled material, in a lovely grey, with a hip vespa printed on it.  

But I could not locate it.

Not to worry.

I grabbed the much less hip (aka butt ugly) bag I had purchased from Haitian Creations.  While I felt good when I bought it knowing I was helping a Haitian woman feed her family, the product was more function than form, if you know what I mean,  But it had to do and I was sure I would be able to slip its origin into conversation to explain the un-hipness of my market bag thus showing at least some UGEHF qualities.

As we parked at the market my hip friend from an uber UGEHF pulled out her delightful, foldable, reusable market basket.  

I picked up my sack/bag/good-deed-bag and slung it over my shoulder.

Of course as we walked around the market there was never one occasion I managed to slip my Haitian Creation bag story into the conversation.

This issue with lesser bags plagues me.

We have so many but one must be careful what to use and when.

There is the lovely grocery bag that David lovingly fabric painted and bejewelled in Grade 3.  
I love it but not everyone appreciates it.  
The cashiers often ask about it and I say my son made it.  I sometimes forget to add that he made it in Grade 3.  Then they ask me how old he is and as I am packing the bags and getting my debit card out etc.... I say 13.  
Then they tilt their heads and give me a kind smile.  
That split second you can either tell your whole life story or just shut up. 
I usually just shut up.  
Unless David is with me and then I tell them the whole story..... or he does.

There is the very spacious black bag from a hardware store that is useful but says on it that it is green - but it isn't......and no UGEHF wants to look foolish.

There are also the freebie bags one acquires over time.

One must be very judicious in the use of these.....as they often show corporate sponsorship that can easily damage the reputation of a UGEHF. 


Then there is the oft seen faux pas of using the Safeway bags at the Save-on-Foods (or vice versa..... or horror of horrors - at Whole foods!) - the withering looks and muttered grumblings of the cashier are mortifying.

Some bags seem so promising and break too easily.

Others are too big or too small.

Others have baaaad acronyms on them.

So I hope you can appreciate the dhilemma a UGEHF faces en route to a market, a local farmers market.

I found the Jaime Oliver bag upstairs today with some gifts in it I had forgotten I had ..... but that is the subject of an entirely different blog post.

Off to the store now with the right bags!