Will You Need a Receipt?

It’s time again to point out the hypocrisy of the environmentalists. The United States Postal Service touts on its website all the ways they are environmentally friendly. They have the largest fleat of alternative fuel capable vehicles. The word capable is the most interesting part of the sentence. Businesses should tailor their mailers to customers who may actually use their products. But it does state direct marketing returns $12 in sales-- a higher return on investment than other marketing technique. They do after all have to keep their direct marketing friends who purchase large amounts of postage. They have Cradle to Cradle certification--products are made from recyclable materials and can then be recycled at the end of their useful life. But isn’t it funny the size of the receipt they print for buying a book of stamps? The receipt is ten inches long by three inches wide. Almost a foot long receipt for a single book of stamps bought with cash! I have a couple of suggestions I would like to offer up to the Post Office. First, maybe they should cut down on the amount of crap typed on the receipt. Second, have a recyclable bin right at the counter for people to throw away their useless receipts. Finally, we can skip the hypocrisy and waste of paper by not printing useless receipts. Just a suggestion.

Give Me My Bag Please

My experience at the grocery store today is not unusual. A 16 year old overachiever begins to haphazardly bag my groceries and is able to shove a large amount of groceries into two small plastic bags. I’m sure this bagging feat isn’t his personal best but it was still early in the day. As I was swiping my debit card I noticed two things. One, right outside of the customer service area was a container for recycling plastic bags. Two, the store is selling reusable canvas bags and the one on display was jabbing my arm. This is an effort for businesses to partner with the community to limit the number of plastic bags introduced into landfills and help spread their environmentally friendly philosophy. Well I wasn’t asked if I wanted to partner with anyone and I didn’t particular like the bagger man handling my melons. This arrangement does not work for me. Green is the new motto for grocers but not in an earth conscious way. They are worried about the green they spend buying plastic bags.

I know some of you will argue the cost of plastic bags is so minimal as to not be an issue for business. But isn’t the money saved on plastic bags one of the reasons tree huggers gave to businesses to sell them on this idea in the first place? You can’t have it both ways. And business has bought the idea so obviously cost savings is a consideration. But for those of us who still insist on using plastic, businesses next goal is to limit the number of bags used.

Almost every plastic bag I get at the store is recycled. I use them to bring my lunch to work, for the wastebaskets in the bathroom and to hold the trash in my car so I don’t have to litter. Let’s not forget the importance of plastic bags to the pooper scooper. Do you really want more shit on the sides of the roads? I wish I knew of a study that evaluated how often and for what purposes plastic bags get reused. The entrepreneurial spirit sparked someone to design a fabric decorative bag you can hang in the kitchen to store your grocery bags. We are losing enough jobs to cheap labor oversees and we don’t need to run more businesses into the ground on a trumped up idea about saving the planet.


I started my illustrious work career bagging groceries and I know management does tell employees to shove as much as possible into a bag. It is better on their public image if businesses say they are focused on saving the planet rather than on saving money. I’m all for being environmentally friendly but do not shove all my groceries in one bag. I’m in on the joke so fill someone else’s bag with your boxed excuses.