At last night's PTA mtg, an update was given about the school's ongoing fundraiser to recycle shopping bags. Apparently, for every 60 gallon container they fill up, Wal-Mart gives the school $5. The schools in the area compete, with cash prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place of $3000, $2000, and $1000.
I was feeling a little uncomfortable with this program but was telling myself, "OK, so it is a good thing to encourage kids to bring in bags and recycle them, right? Better to do that than to have those bags wind up in the trash, yes?" Then the principal said,
"You know how to get more bags, don't you? Every time I go to Fred Meyer, I go through the self-check lane and put one item in a bag."
I (inwardly) gasped while everyone else smiled, and the room filled with "Why didn't I think of that? What a great idea!"
Now, maybe they're a bunch of teacher's pets, but I was - and am - horrified! Um, isn't the idea to REDUCE, reuse, and recycle? Wouldn't we be better off teaching our children to reuse the plastic bags they have, or better yet, use cloth bags for shopping? (*unsolicited plug: I LOVE my reusable grocery bags. I can get a week's worth of groceries in just 5 bags, instead of 15 plastic! It took a little while to get in the habit of bringing them with me and into the store, but I've got it now and it's great! And, only one or two trips from the car to the door. Plus, I get $.05 back for each bag every time I use them at every store I shop at so far! Bonus!*)
So, that's my rant for the evening. I am going to express my concern to the PTA, the principal, and maybe even to Wal-Mart in a very tactful and diplomatic...maybe even charming... way, but I'm still working my approach. Any ideas? I'll entertain all submissions...
7 comments:
Yikes! That principal totally missed the boat on the reason behind the campaign! I too love my green bags!
Sounds like the "law of unintended consequences" in action. Hmmmm . . . no clever solution for you yet, though, but good job on the cloth bags. They rock.
I think I might have embarrassed the garbage out of myself and stood up and told them all how misguided their plan had become. That makes me feel sick. Definitely say something to the president. Its not about earning money because if it was they should be selling candy bars.
I can't believe that! I just bought 4 of the Fred Meyer bags yesterday and I LOVE them! They are so much bigger than I thought and they stand up so nicely in the back of the van. I will never go back. You should say something the Walmart for sure.
wow, that's pretty backwards.
weird.
john and i can hardly believe what you just told me! i think i would have stood up and offered $5 to the school.
why teach our kids to be dishonest?
did anyone just see marian jones lose her olympic metals over lying-cheating to get ahead?
amazing...
i would call the principal out on that one and let walmart know, not that it would do any good- but worth your standards. at briarcrest we do a give $5 to briarcrest. you don't get stuck selling anything and no one is stuck with something they didn't really want...and $5 is alot cheaper than alot of things kids sell for funds for schools..
Great rant. I agree and need to get some reusable bags of my own.
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