Baggage

By Liz

Due to the July 1, 2012 Seattle ban on plastic bags and cost for paper bags across the retail spectrum I was inspired to touch on bags and the bus.  More about the Bag Ban later if you’re interested.  

Bags! I’ve seen them all, from backpacks, oversized purses, totes, ‘man’ bags, plastic, and full sized luggage.  Of course the bus is a form of public transportation and folks need to carry their items someway or another.

As the picture shows my bus has a variety of interesting choices.  I particularly like the spiked out backpack.  It’s a keeper!  Personally, I tend to go with over the shoulder totes.  The big bag that seems to have a Mary Poppins effect as you are searching for your lip balm or keys.   Your arm keeps going around and around finding all the items in the bag, but the one you’re looking for. 

In the beginning of my regular bus commuting days I tried out a backpack for a bit.  While I enjoyed the freedom of having my hands free, I felt  like a little kid going off to school.  Not that fashionable for me, even if it was practical.  Also, I kept feeling that I would knock someone out with taking up extra space on the bus when standing.  It was so stressful.  My goal then turned to find practical, yet fashion okay bag.  Still not there, but I’ll find it.   I see a new Pinterest Board in my future. 

As far as the July 1, 2012 Ban on Plastic Bags it seemed to be a surprise to most folks shopping on Sunday.  Really?  It’s been all over the news and radio for the past 7 months.  Every store had a sign up for the last month.  It’s exciting way to encourage folks to use their reusable bags.  Problem was that only 13% of the 292 million plastic bags used in Seattle were being recycled.  That is pretty sad.  What about paper?  Well, you can still get paper bags for 5 cents each.

For myself, I was about a 50% reusable bag user, I just need to work on my habits and always carry a few extra with me. 

If you want to read more about the ban, check out this article from the Seattle Times. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2018578859_plasticbags02m.html