Message for the toters

(my bag is the less sturdy version of this, but hey, you get the idea. from flickr)

I'm about to sound like a crotchety old man, but it's really true that times they are a-changin'. These days, you can't go anywhere without encountering "eco"-minded products. That magical prefix that seems to be stuck in front of everything from umbrellas to soap (and almost every other book in my favorite bookstores). I remember that a few years ago, I was very excited about this fact. I even bought a good number of those books.

But at this point my excitement has faded and I'm feeling the effects of information overload. I'm becoming jaded (and not exactly green...yeah, I'm sorry, had to do that one).

Anyway, one of my biggest turn-offs is tote bags that proclaim one's eco-friendliness. Seriously, why be so explicit? Can't you just use a regular tote bag? Or at least a more subtle one? Granted, lots of them are on the cutsier side and feature softer messages like "Recycle!" (which I sortof like) or "Green is the New Pink"(which I hate). And it's not like I don't like some of them. But some are downright aggressive (like this one, which angrily insists that you STOP USING PLASTIC BAGS).

I'm saying all this because I myself own an aggressive tote bag. I got it at EATALY, a heavenly place (well, a combination food/bookstore, which is basically my definition of heavenly) in Bologna. I have to confess, I only wanted it because it says Eataly on it, and I absolutely cannot resist wordplay like that. But along with the logo, I got a bag that says "Io non uso...borse di plastica."

This translates to "I don't use...plastic bags." Strangely placed ellipses aside, at first I was ambivalent about the message. But as I started actually using the bag I became self-conscious. I started feeling guilty after episodes of impulse shopping not only because I had yet again failed to go to a museum and was instead shopping, but because I was absent-mindedly accepting plastic bags for my purchases. Here I was, toting around a bag proclaiming that I don't use plastic bags, and there I was, stuffing a plastic bag into it hoping no one would notice. Big oops.

In the midst of my discomfort, I started thinking that maybe my aggressive, very blunt tote bag was working more on me than on passers by. Instead of simply being a billboard for airing a self-important eco-message to other people, mine was also modifying my own behavior. I felt like a total hypocrite, and not privately. I'm pretty sure there's some psychological study out there that indicates that people are quicker to change behavior when they're embarrassed, and if there isn't then I'll vouch for that conclusion based on my one-person study.

I'm not suggesting that we turn to embarrassment tactics to get environmental messages across, but my experience indicates to me that in order for change to happen, people have to find the motivation themselves. And that can be difficult in a green prefix-saturated world full of aggressive, self-righteous messages directed at other people. This is a problem my college environmental group has faced, with lots of people writing us off as assholes who are trying to tell them what to do.

Maybe the focus should be changing ourselves first. Maybe cultural change and reevaluation comes easier out of a group-learning approach...the "no one's perfect but we agree that things need to change, and dang it we're trying!" attitude. The working together approach.

Alright, I'll put my soapbox away. Which is actually a bag.