My First Journey Being Sustainable: Trying Tote Bag and Nylon Bag

It was Saturday morning, and I was cleaning up my closet. It was a pretty sunny day, and I thought decluttering my closet sounded like a great idea. Decluttering things in my closet on holiday helps me to feel relaxed and reduces my anxiety. I sorted the things that I wanted to keep and the things I didn’t. Suddenly I found a box full of tote bags. I got tote bags free from a shopping centre, a door prize tote bag, a tote bag from events, and a lot of tote bags provided by the store to replace plastics. Next to that box, I also have a couple of plastic bags that I used to think maybe I would use it in the future since the plastic bags are too cute to be thrown. 

I sat for a while and thought about what I would do with these two boxes. Deep down inside, I always wanted to be sustainable. I am aware of the impact of plastic on our environment –which is not a good impact. Mainly, after I got into University, my awareness of sustainability rose. With the understanding that a plastic bag takes thousands of years to decompose, can clog landfills, and harms our important and valuable sea life, the global call to stop using plastic has been heard. But I always make a lot of excuses, such as I can’t find a good tote bag, I keep forgetting to bring my tote bag, there are no tote bags that can match my outfit, etc. Maybe it’s time to change. Why don’t I give it a try? There’s always a first time for everything, right? So starting from that day, I promised to myself that the next time I do grocery shopping, I would bring and use my tote bag. I would not spend extra money on plastics. And here’s my not-so-easy journey.

A few weeks later, as I was about to do some groceries, I put one of my tote bags inside of my daily bag. Let’s do this. I entered coles local. Pick all the things I need —bread, sausages, eggs, shampoos, toothpaste, some snacks, gummies, and ice cream. I walk to the self-checkout and proudly pull out my tote bag. I don’t need to spend extra 50 cents on a plastic bag. Well, it’s actually not that hard. I thought to myself, why I’m not doing this before? Why did I keep buying a plastic bag whenever I did groceries? I got home, cleaned and arranged my groceries, folded the tote bag, and put it in the box. 

I keep doing it and try to keep it as my habit. Just like any other things. Sometimes it’s not that easy. There are also some obstacles. A few weeks ago, after class, I decided to do grocery because I didn’t have any snacks and gummies. And guess what? I forgot to bring my tote bag. I also ended up buying more stuff; hence, I bought two plastic bags. I also found that sometimes, my tote bag didn’t fit to my small everyday bag. Additionally, I had this doubtful feeling when I forgot to bring my tote bag. You guys know that almost all stores, especially supermarkets, provide a non-plastic bag for people who don’t bring one. Nowadays, there has been a huge boom in searches for environmentally friendly products this past few years. The consumer interest in sustainability is growing. Therefore, a lot of companies provide a more environmentally friendly product and give more effort to support sustainability. They provide a non-plastic bag in order to support sustainability. The problem is, I feel that almost all of the provided non-plastic bag doesn’t have a good model and I ended up with a 50 cents plastic bag. 

Not long after using a tote bag to replace plastic bags, a few days ago, I found a cute nylon bag. The nylon bag is folded into small size and also come with a small bag to cover it. You know what? I was immediately interested in that thing. I tried to use it when I went to the Milton market. Surprisingly, the nylon bag fits more stuff than I thought. It is a great finding. It’s very convenient. It fits into my small bag and yet holds a lot of stuff.  

Changing our usual habits is not easy. I realize act sustainable is not as easy as flipping the back of our hands. We need more effort and a great willingness. We also have to be consistent. Luckily, I’m not throwing away the tote bag I got from different places. Luckily, that Saturday, I decided to clean my closet and saw the box full of the tote bag. And luckily, I also found a nylon bag. From my journey, I have some new perspectives towards reusable bags like tote bags and nylon bags. Tote bags are indeed the overall multi-purpose accessory. Additionally, a nylon bag is very practical. You can bring it everywhere inside your small bag. If you use a small bag for everyday use, I guarantee you will like it. Using tote bags and nylon bags instead of plastic bags while shopping or doing some grocery can also give me an opportunity to save more money. I can’t imagine the amount of money I spend just for an ugly plastic bag.

Besides trying tote bags and nylon bags, I am also interested to try sustainable fashion. I have looked for Instagram influencers who are into sustainable fashion as my inspiration. @tarachandra_ and @thesewloist really inspired me to move to sustainable fashion. They show me that being sustainable can also be fashionable. You guys should check them out! Keep updated about my next journey to being sustainable! You can also follow my journey through my Instagram @becutebesustain.