small steps

rick has been bugging me forever to order some shopping bags to use at the grocery store--you know, the reusable kind. although i like to think of myself as pro-environment, i don't always put my money where my mouth is, so to speak. i guess old habits die hard. we even keep a few bags in the back of the car, but i inevitably forget to pick them up and carry them in the store with me when i go shopping.

about a week ago, rick and i noticed that our friend jen had a link to small steps, a project out of india where people make bags by hand and then they are given away for free. yes, that's right: for FREE. there is absolutely no catch. all they ask is that you make a donation to their cause, and then just ask for as many bags as you want.

if you do some digging around on the site, you will see that they never tell you how much to donate. they just say "give what you can." they also say that if you can't afford to donate, you can still get the bags. all you have to do is ask. pretty amazing. they do say that the bags cost around $2 each to make, but it is well worth paying more than that per bag, since most other reusable bags you can buy cost much more than that.

i have to admit, at first i was a little nervous to make the donation. i got all the way to paypal, and then before i could bring myself to hit "make donation," i did a google search about the small steps project. every single thing i found about them was positive. so i made the donation and requested 10 bags.

then i immediately became nervous again: what if they didn't respond? what if they never sent the bags? i didn't really feel all that altruistic to just donate to their cause without being able to get the bags. there goes my honesty. :)

two days later i got an email from one of their ambassadors in washington state saying they were shipping the bags, and they showed up on our doorstep today. so yet another christmas eve surprise!

here are some photos. once you read this and look at the pictures, get your hiney in gear and make a donation and order yourself some. they are awesome!