Dear LPG,  

I always think of shopping as something you must do (unless you are looking to buy a new outfit or gadget that interests you), and so many of us do most of that online these days.  

I find shopping for the most necessary things quite dull. Groceries and cleaning agents force us to go to the high street or local supermarket more than any other item, and I know I nearly always buy the same old brands.  

Then there is the whole chore of getting them home. When I was younger, I always thought them uncool, but I have finally succumbed to the wheeled push basket. Although I still need to separate some items from others, which means using carrier bags, 

I usually go shopping with a friend, and we add a cup of tea in the Lewisham centre, which makes the whole experience a little more positive.  Weekly, we find ourselves travelling up and down the same shopping isles, buying the same things for the most part and then there is the checkout adventure at the end.  We are ‘old school’ and refuse to use the automatic checkouts, but while it takes longer to queue, we have no real need to hurry, apart from our aching legs, and the queue is another good place for a chat.    Another perk is that we get that personal service, and our regular visits result in us knowing and being known by many of the checkout staff.     

This outing has been part of our weekly routine since I retired twelve years ago, but one thing has changed. When we started, the bags we brought home from our shopping trip were free, and we collected so many of them that we always forgot to take them back the following week.    

Then came that law that forced us to buy them. Some thought the 5p charge outrageous, while others accepted it would help save the planet.  

For a short while, we remembered and took them back for the next week’s shop, but I blame the fact that so few people now have money at the till for helping us forget the added cost of buying fresh ones each week (including me).  I went shopping the other day for just one item and got to the checkout ‘bag-less’ as usual.   Perhaps it was because there was no list of items to be added up, but I realised the cheap bag I bought to get that one thing home cost me 50p.

My friend remembers to stuff her old ones back into her wheeled basket, and she scolds me every week for buying new ones. I feel terrible because I know what she says makes perfect sense, but I still have to admit to always having an overfull drawer full of scrunched-up empty ones at home and none when I get to that checkout till. 

I am trying to get better at remembering, but they just get added to your bill. Now that we pay by card or phone, you don’t even realise how much they cost us each week, while the pang of guilt I feel for having forgotten again does not last very long.  

I am learning, and I occasionally remember to put some of them at the bottom of the trolley as I put the groceries away. Still, I always seem to need one more than I have on the day. 

One day, not so long ago, my guilt lasted until I got home; I made a cuppa and found myself looking at the internet while drinking it.  I found a few worthwhile things you can do with them if you have too many that are never used for shopping again.

I know I am not alone when it comes to this bad habit. For the other guilty shoppers, I would like to share some interesting things you can do with them, including helping a charity that helps people experiencing homelessness. So, if you are like me and keep forgetting, I ask that you look at the internet ideas I have found. 

DS, Bellingham 

DS finds a few pieces of internet information and suggestions for what to do with those surplus carrier bags…

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… and something charitable that needs special mention if you can crochet…

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