This happens to me a lot when I’m grocery shopping, usually when I’m approaching the check out lanes: I remember forgetting something essential. No, not a shopping list item, but my shopping tote. I’ve either left it at home or in the trunk of my car.
And I tell myself that I have to get in the habit of remembering my tote bag. Must remember tote bag…must remember tote bag….tote bag…must remember….
But today it happened again. This time at Trader Joe’s. I was standing in line, holding my five items, when I noticed the woman in front of me putting her purchases in a Hello Kitty tote bag.
By the time I got to the register and saw the checkout guy peeling off a plastic bag, he might as well have been whipping out a penalty flag.
Why is there this continued lapse in my eco-consciousness? I recycle. I compost. I strive for energy efficiency. Heck, I’ve even had an tote bag made from the denim of my old worn blue jeans. But if I shop organic, the purchases usually go into a white plastic bag. Or maybe I should call it what it is: a non-degradable pouch of petroleum-based shame.
And that’s why I believe there should be a word like “eco-nesia,” to define moments when you forget the green habits that you normally (or at least intend to) practice. For instance, accidentally tossing something that’s recyclable in a trash bin, or forgetting to turn off the plug-in electronics and appliances you’re not using would both be moments of eco-nesia.
It’s either that or start calling these brain farts “mental greenhouse emissions.”
