Have you ever been to Trader Joe's? If you have ever lived or visited the West Coast, chances are you have. I love that store... sort of. I mean I do...but... it just seems that nothing in there is local, and everything is excessively packaged. Even the fruit & vegetables are sold in plastic-like tray containers. But... I love that store, especially since they have the cheapest organic strawberries. I love it because they have reasonable prices, and a different selection compared to your run-of-the- mill grocery chain. This is particularly true for yummy treats. Not that I have a sweet tooth or anything.. AHEM. Most importantly, the employees are always super friendly and helpful. Really, they are. Unfortunately, since I'm trying,
really trying, to eat a more local diet, as well as cut back on buying packaged convenience food items, my visits to
TJ's have become more and more infrequent.
I have been trying to cut back on convenience items by making more things from scratch. Hopefully our garden will help too. I've been buying from the bulk bins at 'regular' grocery stores and reusing my plastic bags, (one of these days I'll purchase some reusable produce bags.) And, of course I'm still using my cloth bags. I rarely see others use cloth bags. My store of choice gives a 5 cent discount for each bag you bring. Nothing huge, but a small incentive none-the-less.
Last week I went to
TJ's to grab a few yummy treats and convenience items. I know, I know, BAD. But I did, and guess what? I was very pleasantly surprised that
TJ's has the best cloth bag incentive I've come across. As I was being checked-out, the cashier slapped a little piece of paper on the counter which asked for my name and phone number. I was skeptical. I will NOT be giving out my name and phone number, thank you very much.
What's this for? I asked. He smiled and explained that since I brought cloth bags, I could enter to win a $10 coupon. Hot
diggy damn! That could cover my sweet tooth for several days! Grinning from ear to ear, I quickly scribbled my name and number on the little piece of paper. Only after the excitement had subsided, did I bother to hope that my information would be kept private. Oh Well, I'm a sucker, what can I say. Isn't it a great incentive to use cloth bags? I think so. The little container that held all of the entries was nearly full, so obviously a lot more people than I realized are using their cloth bags too...
YIPPEEEE
