Yes, it does. But our society is built on separating the purchase and the consequence. You use electricity, but the plant is polluting somewhere far away. You throw out your trash, but the landfill is in someone else's backyard.

So you can't necessarily blame people if they don't see the consequences of their own consumption, because the system makes it easy to do.

Speaking of buying shoes, I have 3 kids and got to thinking....Why do they need to put shoes into boxes???? I can remember buying shoes when I was a kid and all they had was an elastic band on them that kept them together. I usually try to keep the boxes for school projects etc...but with a family of 5, that can get pretty cluttered up especially around back to school time.

I try to do whatever I can with reducing, reusing, recycling, and repurposing but can't worry about the habits of others. Everyone else will have to come around in their own way at their own speed. And it'll take time and a lot more public education to get more people on board. I am somewhat amazed I can fill a 64 gallon recycling cart every two weeks, but have so little real garbage (I compost and shy away from buying over processed and over packaged foodstuffs, bottled water, etc.) that I wonder why I even need trash pickup - except maybe once a month.

The bags at the big stores are part of their security system. With a bag in hand you can walk out unmolested. Carrying the merchandise with the receipt on it may cause security to check you. Starbucks sells coffee by the cup sized by ounces. How do they know what size cup you bring? Does your cup fit in their machine's outlet? In these cases it sometimes isn't so clear cut. Tom

I've walked out of a store plenty of times without a bag and carrying the receipt. I've never been molested or stopped. As for Starbucks, they sell coffee cups. The few coffee cups of mine I just checked, had the ounces written on the bottom. Even if they didn't, I'm sure it could be easily guesstimated.

It does bother me, but I realize that most of the time they're ignorant.

Life is like a circle, you start at one point and most people just go in a straight line, not giving back to where they came from. The whole point (IMO) of life is to almost get back to that point you started. If you look at a child, they are calm and observant of the world around them, but can't care for themselves. Our goal should be calm and observant, but able to care for ourselves and others. This will ultimately bring our society happiness.

If you weren't taught how to ride a bike, you couldn't. Just as people aren't taught how to conserve or how ecology works. People are taught the opposite. We are all blank slates when we are born, how we turn out is how people chisel our slates. It all starts with the children... our generations are screwed, but the future generations can be brought up with a mind-state that is conducive to sustainability.

No it doesn't really drive me nuts. Most people are just too busy with raising kids and keeping a roof over their head to keep up with how the world is changing. It's not that they wouldn't change if they knew all the facts; it's just that they need a little direction. I've started taking bags to the grocery store and forcing them to use them. I must say I got bigtime strange looks from the staff as well as the customers but I was informed and through a few key facts and websites to check out and now everyone is getting into the act. While at the checkout last trip, I noticed the guy behind me saw my bags and went to get some off the rack for his groceries. Another one joined the flock!

Our mission is to calmly inform the masses that things have changed and following the same old ways is just not the way to go these days. Just remember change is scary and we need to reassure them that it works and isn't really that big of a deal to change their habits.

It bothers me, but only in a "global" sense...I'm not really annoyed at the individuals, because it's hard to make sweeping lifestyle changes, and perhaps they're moving slower than I am (happens a lot). I figure it's my chance to "lead by example" though...even if they just look at me funny for using my own bags, at least a seed has been planted. :-)