Breaking bag (or how I learned to love my shopping trolley)

Being a non-driver who does a lot of walking, it was inevitable that I would end up injuring myself as a result of carrying shopping bags which are far too heavy.  And that's exactly what happened a few months ago, and I finally made my mind up that after years of carrying heavy bags, enough was enough.  Drastic measures were required.  

I bought a shopping trolley. 

And since that time, I haven't looked back.  It was possibly my best purchase of 2014 and has changed my life.

Something else happened since I bought the trolley. In October 2014, the Scottish Government imposed a charge of 5p for every carrier bag provided by all retailers, (where these bags used to be free).  This is to ensure that people recycle their bags, but hasn't entirely been a successful move.  For example, I previously re-used my supermarket carrier bags as bin liners, but have now ended up buying packs of bin liners, which instead of the supermarket bags are now filled with rubbish and ending up in landfill, thus defeating the purpose of the exercise. 

Since the carrier bag charge was introduced, we now gleefully take our stash of carrier bags from rival supermarkets with us, probably much to the annoyance of those stores who, although trying to boast 'green' credentials, would like nothing more than their customers walking out of the stores with 'their' bags, advertising 'their' products.

One knock-on effect of the introduction of the carrier bag charge has been a slow but noticeable increase in the number of people turning up at my local supermarkets with their shopping trolleys in tow.  Either that or I may have started a trend among my fellow shoppers!

So, forget the notion that trolleys are only for "old grannies" well that's not true.  Anyway, who cares what people think?  Don't worry what people say, get out there and wheel your trolleys with pride.  Your health matters.  Your back, shoulders and arms will thank you for it, trust me :)