A Bad Day for Red Peppers

Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore: the green bag
 
You'd think that there'd be at least ONE nice red pepper in all of Paddy's Market. You'd be wrong. Ok, I managed to find one that wasn't TOO bad. Guess the most recent red pepper harvest was a little less than spectular. For absolutely every single one of the many venders in the fruit and vegetable market. Very strange.
 
Next up: the Green Bag. It is what it sounds like - an environmentally friendly reusable shopping bag. What makes it different from the myriad of similar products available today, including taking your own old cloth bags to the supermarket, is that it is EVERYWHERE. They are a standardized size and design that supermarkets and corner grocery stores alike are familiar with, meaning that packing your groceries at the checkout remains an efficient process. They are strong and sturdy, holding the equivalent of 4 or 5 plastic bags. And when I say strong and sturdy, I mean that Ching and I carried all our heavy fruits and veggies, including apples, potatoes, a melon, plus - all in one bag - home today and never once doubted the ability of the bag to do this job several times a week from now until after we return to Canada. We saw someone with a shopping cart full of Green Bags with groceries outside BiLo (Sydney's equivalent of No Frills or Price Chopper, but plastic bags included) yesterday. And every time we walk down the street, we're sure to pass a few of them. We've all seen similar initiatives in Canada. Stores are always selling their own resuable shopping bags. But how often have you seen someone at the checkout handing the cashier a reusable bag? If you have, it probably made quite an impression on you. Here, the Green Bag isn't even worth blinking over. People just have them. And use them. The website has more information.
It's worth checking out.

(edited 18 July, 10:00 am) Oh yes, the bags are under $2 each. The exact price varies from about $1.60 to $1.80, that we've seen. Depends whether you get one with "BiLo" or "Kmart" on the side, or choose one that's free of logos. And the website link now leads to the right place.