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The Japanese Ministry of the Environment is encouraging the citizens of Japan to cut back on the 30 billion plastic bags they use every year. She'd like them to tie their shopping up in reusuable cloth.
Of course in Japan, no mere bandana on a hobo stick will do. In Japan, there is an art to cloth bundles. There is furoshiki.
A furoshiki is a square of fabric. Tie it one way and it's a suitcase. Tie it another way and it's a grocery bag. A bottle-carrier, a picnic basket, a gift wrap, a hat, a watermelon tote...
The Japanese MOE has published chart of traditional furoshiki tying methods. Here's a video showing how to make a carrier called a drop-bag.
So I bought a big square of cotton today, tied it into a drop-bag, and went to Trader Joe's. I came out with a ton of groceries, all Japanesey in their cloth. I could barely lift it, but it did its job beautifully.
The cashier seemed a little put off. "It's a furoshiki," I said. Get used to it, I thought.
When I got home, I tried some of the other wraps, including this one for two bottles of wine:
It's like Origami meets Cat's Cradle. Only easier, and much more useful. This furoshiki thing is going to work for me.
Now I'm in the mood to watch anime. Can't think why.
Comments
I assume the knot is the handle? Of course IO', going to check out the diagrams.
Oh and King Arthur, great choice!
Glad you like the idea. Here are some photos showing that a furoshiki bag need not be too girly.
I am a little surprised that TJ's would seem exasperated by your tote though. They have been one of the first on the band wagon of reducing the use of paper and plastic bags. I suspect that checker is telling people about it as I type. It will catch on before you know it!
PS: Great choice of fabric!
So, a word of advice: the "drop bag" is useful for carrying, but hard to put stuff into when it's already tied. There's one bundle method that seems like it might be best at the grocery store, called "hand carry wrap" or tesage bukuro shown here, that's mostly wide-open for putting stuff into, but quickly closed up and carried off by just grabbing the knots or putting one knot through the space formed by the other.
Anyway, yes, it's a great idea, and now that I kow what it's called, I'm finding scads of pictures and videos and blogs online about it, so I know Americans are catching on to it.
Edited at 2008-05-05 11:46 pm (UTC)
But yeah, the beauty of the furoshiki is that it takes practically no sewing. Just the pretty fabric.
And by the way, tai chi sword? Cool!
i did knit a couple of market bags since i want to try to stop using plastic. thing is, i have to remember to take them with me! *headdesk*
The habit-forming clincher for me was a) putting back what I couldn't carry in my hands one time when I forgot my bag; b) walking all the way back across the parking lot from the store to get the bag out of my trunk one time; c) actually getting partway to the store and turning the car around to go home and get bags (ouch! at the price of gas); and finally, d) turning around and WALKING home again when I realized I didn't have a bag on me.
Suddenly, after these four corrections, I feel positively naked leaving the house without a string bag, a furoshiki, or a shopping bag.
So...let's see a picture of your knitted market bag!
...and here's a picture of the bag. i need to take one when it's filled with stuff!
I commented at Flickr and added you to my Flickr contacts.
Good idea about keeping the bags with the keys. That's where I keep my work security badge, too. Now...if only I could remember to put my wallet, glasses, and phone in the same general area...
The next big step for me is finding or inventing some way to do significant grocery shopping on foot or by bike.
We walk to the market fairly often. The stroller works great for transporting groceries. I know it seems silly if there's not also a child in the stroller, but it does work. And since strollers are designed to carry heavy(ish) loads it's really easy to push. (I've also seen small cart-type contraptions - I think they're designed to pull luggage? - that might work, but I don't know where to find them, and they're designed to pull which can be harder on the body).
Also, by brother-in-law spent the 4 years he was going to vet school living in a converted school bus and riding his bike (which is a long and unusual story, but his annual housing expenses were about $150 - note, annual, not monthly - and he left medical school with no student debt). Anyway I digress... He used a backpack to transport groceries. He got a nice, large, comfortable pack and would cycle with his groceries on his back. He obviously didn't buy anything in bulk, and he was somewhat limited when buying heavy things (liquid), but for most every-day type shopping it worked splendidly. (there are"trailers" designed to pull babies behind a bike that would be perfect for hauling shopping. I have no idea what they cost, but I'm sure it's the kind of thing that can be found second hand - we buy everything for Madeline second-hand so I may have some suggestions if you want to pursue that route. Or the stroller route for that matter =)
I think you point to an important consideration in grocery-cartage: that as with election fraud, there probably isn't a single, monolithic way to do it. There might be some walking with a shoulder bag or backpack, some trips with a wheeled conveyance of some kind, and even the occasional use of a car (mine or ZipCar's, as my circumstances will eventually dictate).
Similarly, I don't have to do all my shopping at one store. Whole Foods (two blocks away) and Fred Meyer (a five mile round trip) offer different incentives.
My sister,
Another option is grocery delivery--which I think we'll be seeing more and more of as private car use becomes more expensive.
Anyway, thanks for your helpful ideas!
I was wondering if you took your Chinese glasses at Bodhi Tree Center? I'm taking Thai classes there.
I've been using the Pimsleur Mandarin course (extremely effective), and took a couple of classes from Effective Chinese, which is struggling to get a foothold in the Mandarin-learning community in Portland.