Mr Green goes shopping without his reusable bag
Can you imagine it? There we are at our trusty Co-Op trundling around with our basket when we realise, quelle horreur, that we are sans reusable bag.
Dang! How embarrassing for two seasoned non-plastic-carrier-bagging-zero-waste-challengers.
“Never mind,” I mutter confidentally; “I’ll buy one of their reuseable cloth bags. I’ve been meaning to get one for ages anyway……..”
We reach the checkout and look around for the cloth bags. NO BAGS! They have an assortment of ‘bags for life’ which, basically means ‘thick plastic that ends up in the landfill’ to me, but nothing in cloth. There are no boxes either.
“Well, we’ll just have to carry it between us.” I say, figuring out how many items I can carry across the car park at once.
But no! Mr Green has other plans, which involve stripping at the checkout!
To the gasps of delight from females across the store and shifty glances from the men, Mr Green removes his top.
The cashier looks all flustered and the colour rises in her cheeks. It’s like a remake of the Levi Jeans advert we all used to pour over (in fact, it was that advert that was resonsible for me sourcing an original version of Marvin Gaye’s “I head it through the grapevine” at great expense) as temperatures soar in the local Co-Op.
Ice creams melt, fish leap off the fish counter, ladies in their seventies start provocatively patting their blue rinses and children everywhere cover their eyes.
What does he have in mind?
His very own jumpabag
Go on, Mrs Green; show us what’s in the bag……
Look how much Mr Green’s big, flexible bag can hold!
Pure genius! I love this resourceful man of mine (and so do most of the staff and customers in the co-op!)
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Comments
Oh that’s just wonderful! Well done, when will you be marketing the versatile bag-that-you-wear?
Excellent story - I try hard to always have some reusable bags but sometimes I can forget and then carry them in my hand, which shop assistants find strange. If I forget in future I will try Mr Greens technique, just hope I have enough clothes on - dont want to get arrested for indecent exposure!
Definitely some quick thinking there (or do you think he’d been storing up the idea for a while, just waiting for the right moment!)
you think there is a gap in the market for his jumpa-bag Sarah?
Anna-Lisa, do let us know if you get arrested; we’d love to feature you on our site 
I concur with the others - LOL! I’ve endured the same humiliating, green faux pas on harried occasions. I carried everything to the car, put them in my reusable, thermal insulated shopping bags (that I have had for 5 years!) and then returned the paper bags right back to the store.
By the way, my 12 year old granddaughter enjoys using our premium, MADE IN THE USA, bags (not the cheap grocery store ones) that she has started her own business, Kool Bags Sold by a Kool Kid. You can check then out on her website, YouthBusiness.us
She also donates 10% of her profits to the Winter Special Olympics 2009 to be held in Boise, ID.
Since laughter is the best medicine, thanks for the immune system booster, Mrs. Green!
Hi Cynthia,
Lovely to see you and thank you for taking time to leave a comment here. Your Granddaughter sounds wonderful; what a great gift she is offering the world. I wish her every success. What are her Kool Bags made from?
We’re in the UK, but I know we have several readers from across the pond who might be interested in buying from her and supporting her cause 
Kudos to you for returning your bags to the store!
Interesting!! Maybe I missed the opportunity to create a jumper bag, but have enough on really creating charibags which are reusable eco bags with a social conscience. This started in 2006 as way of a thank you to the hospital that saved my sons life, now we create reusable eco bags for charities, schools,not-for-profit groups and businesses all over. Please visit http://www.chariband.co.uk for more information.
Hi Glenda,
Your company sounds wonderful - thank you for bringing this to our awareness.
What a meaningful way to ‘pay it forward’ in respect of the hospital that saved your sons life and what a beautiful story!
Good luck with everything.
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LOL - That is so funny….Thank you Mr Green! And Thank You Mrs Green for spilling the beans