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So I'm trying to sort out why I'm pissed off.
See, Hartmann's has started charging $0.05 per plastic grocery bag.
So far, this is fine (though I felt a bit stupid for not having brought an extra bag with me).
However.
They've stopped carrying paper bags all together.
I have a problem with this.
I'd be okay with paying for paper bags. I'd still be annoyed, but I'd be okay with it.
I just think that not carrying paper bags anymore - when they had a bunch of them this time yesterday evening - kind of puts a hole in the whole "we're doing this for the environment" thing.
That said, I *also* have a problem with being told by a snippy 17-year-old that paper bags are just as bad for the environment as plastic bags - but she can't tell me why this is - so they stopped carrying the paper and started charging for the plastic.
And I'm trying to sort out how much of my Moral Outrage (tm) is due to:
(A) My not liking to be snipped at by an ignorant kid who doesn't get that [non-biodegradable petrolium product] = [way worse for the environment than 100% biodegradable paper product] [EDIT: Or I could be wrong on that. See Pixxelpuss's comment for link], and my feeling that I'd just been told "You are a bad, bad person!" for (1) not brining an extra cloth bag with me and (2) wanting a paper bag instead.
And how much of it is due to:
(B) My knowing damn well that plastic bags (handily now dyed green, 'cause that's Environmental) cost about a billion times less than paper bags when you get them at supply shops, so the profit margin for selling plastic bags at five cents a pop is way higher than it would be for selling paper bags at the same price - which makes this really obviously a PR-game crossed with a money grab rather than something that's actually aimed to *help*.
Particularly since (i) the newly-dyed-green plastic bags don't appear to be derived from corn, and (ii) the Herb and Spice *gives away* their biodegradable corn-derived-plastic[1] bags as a matter of course.
<*sigh*>
One more reason to shop at the organic store, I think. :-)
In other news: I just got my first issue of Shameless Magazine - a feminist, Canadian alternative to magazines like "Seventeen", "YM", and "Jane". (Finally, since I subscribed to it back in October -- the envilope came with a sticker telling me that my subscription starts this spring, and "here, have a free back-issue to enjoy in the meantime". I was starting to wonder if I'd ever actually subscribed to the thing).
In this issue:
"How Summer Camps Get Native Culture[s] Wrong" - Discusses Canadian colonialism and includes features like "Cultural Appropriation 101" and "Native Myths and Legends" (the latter being all about cultural stereotyping).
"Unfair Play" - about women, athleticism and gender.
Quotation: The issue of what makes a woman a woman goes deepr than chromosomes. Are you only a woman if you have a uterus that gives birth? [...] For almost every standard of biological gender we ave dreamed up, there are people who defy it.
"Not a Guy's Guy" - a one-page article on being sixteen and not conforming to gender-norms.
"Between Borders" - an interview with a member of Toronto's "No-One Is Illegal" project.
AND
"Gender Outlaw" - an interview with Kate Bornstein.
There's also a "Shameless" five-things-to-do list that includes stuff like "get your old stuff fixed rather than go clamouring after new gadgets" (my wording), and "get involved with the Miss G Project [which advocates for gender-and-women's studies courses in Ontario high schools]".
Colour me freaking impressed. :-D
In other news: Hartmann's has a lot of icecream (including Haagen-Dazs's "Vanilla Caramel Latte") on for, like, $3.99. Yummy? You betcha! :-D
In STILL other news: I want these books:
Whipping Girl - Julia Serano,
Gender Outlaw - Kate Bornstein,
The Purity Myth - Jessica Valenti,
Visible: A Femmethology - Jennifer Clare Burke (Ed).
- TTFN,
- Amazon. :-)
[1] And, yes, I'm aware that developing countries are being told "Grow us white people bio-diesil-corn instead of food!" and that this is a bad thing, too.
See, Hartmann's has started charging $0.05 per plastic grocery bag.
So far, this is fine (though I felt a bit stupid for not having brought an extra bag with me).
However.
They've stopped carrying paper bags all together.
I have a problem with this.
I'd be okay with paying for paper bags. I'd still be annoyed, but I'd be okay with it.
I just think that not carrying paper bags anymore - when they had a bunch of them this time yesterday evening - kind of puts a hole in the whole "we're doing this for the environment" thing.
That said, I *also* have a problem with being told by a snippy 17-year-old that paper bags are just as bad for the environment as plastic bags - but she can't tell me why this is - so they stopped carrying the paper and started charging for the plastic.
And I'm trying to sort out how much of my Moral Outrage (tm) is due to:
(A) My not liking to be snipped at by an ignorant kid who doesn't get that [non-biodegradable petrolium product] = [way worse for the environment than 100% biodegradable paper product] [EDIT: Or I could be wrong on that. See Pixxelpuss's comment for link], and my feeling that I'd just been told "You are a bad, bad person!" for (1) not brining an extra cloth bag with me and (2) wanting a paper bag instead.
And how much of it is due to:
(B) My knowing damn well that plastic bags (handily now dyed green, 'cause that's Environmental) cost about a billion times less than paper bags when you get them at supply shops, so the profit margin for selling plastic bags at five cents a pop is way higher than it would be for selling paper bags at the same price - which makes this really obviously a PR-game crossed with a money grab rather than something that's actually aimed to *help*.
Particularly since (i) the newly-dyed-green plastic bags don't appear to be derived from corn, and (ii) the Herb and Spice *gives away* their biodegradable corn-derived-plastic[1] bags as a matter of course.
<*sigh*>
One more reason to shop at the organic store, I think. :-)
In other news: I just got my first issue of Shameless Magazine - a feminist, Canadian alternative to magazines like "Seventeen", "YM", and "Jane". (Finally, since I subscribed to it back in October -- the envilope came with a sticker telling me that my subscription starts this spring, and "here, have a free back-issue to enjoy in the meantime". I was starting to wonder if I'd ever actually subscribed to the thing).
In this issue:
"How Summer Camps Get Native Culture[s] Wrong" - Discusses Canadian colonialism and includes features like "Cultural Appropriation 101" and "Native Myths and Legends" (the latter being all about cultural stereotyping).
"Unfair Play" - about women, athleticism and gender.
Quotation: The issue of what makes a woman a woman goes deepr than chromosomes. Are you only a woman if you have a uterus that gives birth? [...] For almost every standard of biological gender we ave dreamed up, there are people who defy it.
"Not a Guy's Guy" - a one-page article on being sixteen and not conforming to gender-norms.
"Between Borders" - an interview with a member of Toronto's "No-One Is Illegal" project.
AND
"Gender Outlaw" - an interview with Kate Bornstein.
There's also a "Shameless" five-things-to-do list that includes stuff like "get your old stuff fixed rather than go clamouring after new gadgets" (my wording), and "get involved with the Miss G Project [which advocates for gender-and-women's studies courses in Ontario high schools]".
Colour me freaking impressed. :-D
In other news: Hartmann's has a lot of icecream (including Haagen-Dazs's "Vanilla Caramel Latte") on for, like, $3.99. Yummy? You betcha! :-D
In STILL other news: I want these books:
Whipping Girl - Julia Serano,
Gender Outlaw - Kate Bornstein,
The Purity Myth - Jessica Valenti,
Visible: A Femmethology - Jennifer Clare Burke (Ed).
- TTFN,
- Amazon. :-)
[1] And, yes, I'm aware that developing countries are being told "Grow us white people bio-diesil-corn instead of food!" and that this is a bad thing, too.
