365 Days to a Greener You

I did a search for green shopping carts the other day and only came up with a million results of green ideas and things that people put into shopping carts like vegetarian dishes, reusable bags and organic foods. Although those are great topics, I am mostly interested in the shopping cart itself.

I see carts everywhere except where they should be–corralled and with their brethren– not as a personal storage bin for the homeless, three parking lots away, right in the middle of a parking spot and stuck in a random median. At least bring your cart back to a central corral if you are going to be bringing out a cart. The biggest argument for not bringing the cart back is that it is too far from where you parked.

An easy solution is to park closer to a corral next time. A lot of times it is just easier to bring it back to where you got it in the first place. I usually bring mine in from the parking lot and leave it inside when I am done. I try to target that lonely one in the parking lot propped up against the curb and half in a spot. Nobody puts baby in the corner.

I am just glad that they have carts. I am surprised that someone has not come up with a “personal” shopping cart–one that folds up like a baby stroller and you can keep in your trunk. I have been toting around strollers for over five years now, this should be a no brainer. I see parents slather up all sorts of cleaners and have little cute covers for the carts. It would just make more sense to have your own where you can store your reusable bags. Heck, make it real easy and have the basket pop off or be able to put the whole thing in the car so you don’t have to take anything out of the basket to begin with.

I have seen a few that cart around small amounts of groceries, but they look like a carry on suitcase on wheels and probably do better in urban areas. They seem to be designed for for the walker and for toting your bags from the checkout to the home and not for the full shopping experience.

With food prices being so high, we have to do all we can to help. Those carts are not cheap and if people steal, damage, and lose them then it really cuts into the bottom line passed on to the customer. Not only do the carts themselves get damaged and probably thrown away, but how many cars get damaged each year by the errant cart? Those little electric cart pushers use a lot of electricity pushing those carts back to the store.

Please bring your carts back to the front where you found it, offer it to someone going into the store or bring it back to the corral. Not only does it save on the bottom line but it reflects on you as a person, makes it harder to steal or get damaged and shows your pride for your local shopping center.