Ditching the Car for a Reusable Bag

I’ve lived in Washington State for the better part of my life, moving from the frozen tundra of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, to beautiful Bainbridge Island at the tender age of 14.  I was so excited to live anywhere that didn’t have snow, and gladly traded it for the grey days of Seattle.  From there, I went on to Washington State University and, after graduation, to San Francisco.  It wasn’t long before I heard the Pacific Northwest calling my name and returned home to Seattle.

Until this time, I had been reliant on a vehicle.  You can’t get around a secluded island or ice covered town with ease by walking.  I even found myself relying on it in SF – crazy because BART is such a great public transit system.  My car, nicknamed “Lulu the Malibu”, had been with me through the college years and my brief stint in California.  It was shortly after my move home that I sold her.  I had money in my pocket and I felt liberated!  That is, until I realized that I had sold my car and was living back home on Bainbridge Island.  I was living a repeat of high school.

The only logical remedy to this problem was to move into the big city.  Since moving to Seattle, I have lived in both the Capitol Hill and Queen Anne areas.  Each place has provided me with close proximity to grocery stores, gyms, parks, bus routes, and nightlife.

Like Jimmy, the biggest changes for me all revolve around grocery shopping.  I routinely forget those re-useable bags in my kitchen drawers and end up paying for the paper bags that break half way home.  On the days I do remember them, I end up buying the heavy stuff – milk, flour, spaghetti squash – the stuff I seem to live without on regular weeks but find oh-so-necessary when I have the proper carrying vessels.  Either way, walking home from the store ends up being a bit of a battle. A battle I plan to win one day.

In the next few weeks, I’ll let you in on how I made the switch to a walkable lifestyle and how I’m still working on that transition.