My Black Friday Experience
By Denise Owens
While preparing to go shopping for Black Friday, I decided to do things differently. I brought my own bags from home to use for my purchases instead of receiving plastic bags. My girlfriends and I carpooled to the shopping mall instead of everyone driving separately.
Once we arrived at the mall I was amazed how the employers were passing out reusable bags to be used instead of using the plastic bags. As they passed out the bags, they informed the shoppers that by using these reusable bags, this will help the environment.
While shopping this past weekend I made sure I shopped green. I purchased lights to decorate my home inside and out. I was on an alert for the Energy Star Label for more reasons than one. Not only were the lights prettier it was safer for the environment. I explained to my girlfriends why I had to have Energy Star products. My girlfriend said it does not matter. Well as she shopped for a TV she asked a few questions and the first thing the salesman said was, “This is an Energy Star television” I laughed and said to her, “I told you so”.
During my shopping experience I was really pleased to find that people are really going green for the holidays.
About the author: Denise Owens has worked with the Environmental Protection Agency for over 25 years.
Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed in Greenversations are those of the author. They do not reflect EPA policy, endorsement, or action, and EPA does not verify the accuracy or science of the contents of the blog.
Nov 29, 2010 @ 11:42:42
Is EPA needs an advertisement ?
Half an hour ago, I received “Cyber Monday” email which to bring my question to EPA about socialization Environmental Protection for the people. It seems EPA to advertise “Green” minded to all the people.
Nov 29, 2010 @ 12:27:38
Good to see responsible stores using reusable bags. Such “luxury” hasn’t yet arrived to stores in my area.
Nov 29, 2010 @ 13:27:42
Denise,
Liked your blogpost. Also happy to see that more stores are jumping on the Green bandwagon.
Lina
Nov 29, 2010 @ 19:32:40
The greenest TV is the one you don’t buy.
Nov 29, 2010 @ 22:40:16
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/31/energy-star-fraud-15-bogu_n_519670.html
Just saying, when bogus products can get an Energy Star rating, how much does it really mean?
Nov 29, 2010 @ 23:52:16
It was great you went shopping at stores with managements that are environmentally responsible. That, sorry to say, is still few and far between but the numbers of stores offering reusable instead of disposible bags is growing. But where your stores handed them out, most stores sell them. Now, it is time for stores to look at the next step. Medium and heavy duty trucks account for only 4% or so of the total U.S. vehicle fleet but produce over 25% of total pollutants. Store managements should insist that their suppliers, wholesailers, and shippers use green powered trucks to bring goods to the stores and green powered trucks to ship merchandise from the store to the customer’s home. Such a movement could have real benefits for pollution reduction. Best wishes, Michael E. Bailey.
Nov 30, 2010 @ 05:58:18
Good post…
today.. all the superstores are moving in this system…
Dec 20, 2010 @ 15:50:42
I found a good deal at home depot for some.
Took me entire sunday to change my house lights to LED. Not as bright as regular bulbs, but will save a lot of electricity.
Jul 18, 2012 @ 18:48:43
I wish more retailers would offer re-usables. I ended up getting these and they’re really pretty good. But if retailers are going to waste the money anyway, they should put it into branded re-usables instead of throw-away plastic ones. The re-usables would provide the retailers with branding longevity that the current disposables can’t match. You’d think these businesses could grasp such an opportunity.