Resurrect the Brown Bags
by Colleen Lenaghan
Lately, though it seems that taking a lunch in a Gap or J Crew bag has become more important than the sandwich inside. My question is this: WhatUs so appetizing about a tank top and chinos? Those companies may have high quality and trendy clothing, but who puts a lunch bag in the same category as oxford shirts?
There exists, then, the other option. Reusing a smaller, hand-held shopping bag as a lunch hauler. Certainly these bags are best recycled for some other purpose than this. Would not the regular bag serve the same purpose? I propose that all of us that merely bring our lunches in a brown paper bag whip out the Sharpie marker and hail them from Saks Fifth Avenue. Then, possibly, I will understand the thrill or logic in parading the brand name lunch bag from class to class in the morning. (Even if inside it's boringly generic.)
Yeah, I know, it's the mere much-craved individuality. And hey! It's good for the earth. Which, I'm sure is the reason that the half-torn Gap bag takes precedence over the much more functional and reasonable brown bag. Using a cloth bag or a thermos lunch-carrier makes even more sense than my proposed brown bag, and is better for the earth.
So, all earth conscious students that believe reusing that bag is the best thing, you probably caused harm to the earth long before that. Accepting a bag that size from a retailer is ridiculous. What goes into a bag that small can most certainly fit into another or better yet, you can just slide it into your purse or handbag. I work for a retail company. I assure you that they won't mind if you tell them that you want to save the earth and throw your recently purchased trendy beaded bracelet in your purse.
Relax, I'm not promoting an anti-small bag movement. And maybe I'm too
old-school. Bring back the brown bag. Because, after all, it's what's on
the inside that counts.