"Reach for the skies, lady. Hand me your bag."

Mama gnome went to Gnomemart and purchased groceries for the gnome household.
After Mama gnome filled the cart with essentials such as peanut butter cup ice cream and chocolate, she went to the cashier.

Mama gnome said, "Hi."

A gum chewing sales associate eyed Mama gnome and said, "Hi..."

Mama gnome asked, "Is it okay if we use my bags for the groceries?"

"You want to what?"

"Use my bags." Mama gnome held up her two giant reusable bags.

Gum chewing sales associate shrugged her shoulders.

Mama gnome didn't know what that meant.

Did it mean:

a. You're weird. b. What planet are you from? c. Who cares? d. I hate my job.

After Mama gnome swiped her card to pay, Gum lady, started filling up Mama gnome's reusable bags!

When she finished, Mama gnome said, "Thanks! Have a nice day."

Gum lady smiled and said, "You too."

True story. It didn't start out as a pleasant experience. People in line stared at me. But I pushed the cart out of there without a plastic bag in sight.

It's a daily struggle to be green, isn't it? It's so much easier to be complacent and just go with the flow. But sometimes, people step out of their comfort zone and dare to be different.

Nanette, a cousin gnome, pointed this article to Mama gnome.

So people do try and try hard. That's what's important, keep trying.

And this is what happens when a BUNCH OF PEOPLE really try hard.

They have saved "the equivalent of 1.6 million tonnes of oil."

Their efforts have "saved the country 40 BILLION PLASTIC BAGS." Astounding.

40 billion plastic bags kept out of landfills, streets, rivers and oceans.

But the bad news. It's not enough. Nowhere near enough. It was reported that:

"There are now 46,000 pieces of plastic per square kilometre of the world's oceans, killing a million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals each year."

So reach for the skies, reach for the stars and go green.

"REDUCE, REUSE, RECYLE."

(c) 2009 Jenaelha, Friendly Gnome's Blog