I swore my reusable bags were saving the planet, then a cashier in Fresno did the math on my 40 trips

Claire Hart · 2026-10-09T16:00:04.313228+00:00

I used to feel great hauling my canvas bags into the store every trip. Last month a cashier in Fresno pointed out that my cotton totes needed to be used about 130 times just to break even with plastic on carbon. I had been rotating four bags for two years, so I was fine, but it made me look at everything else I buy for green reasons. My bamboo utensils, my fancy water bottle, the compost bin shipped from 900 miles away, all of it had a footprint I never counted. It hit me that I was doing the fun stuff and skipping the boring stuff that matters way more, like cutting beef and short flights. So now I ask, are we all just buying green gadgets to feel better while ignoring the big stuff? What made you stop and rethink one of your own habits?

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I swore my reusable bags were saving the planet, then a cashier in Fresno did the math on my 40 trips | Climate Action - Babble Community