I went to C-town on Jersey Ave in Jersey City a week ago.
As soon as I walked in, I saw bright green “Earthwise” reusable
bags hanging on a display rack. Only 99 cents; I grabbed 2 along
with some half and half and Murphy’s Oil Soap before checking
out- please don’t speculate as to why these items were purchased
together.

The cashier took off the plastic price tag- shame on you greenies-
and to my surprise, the bag opened up at the bottom to a width
of about 6 inches. It has straps that are stitched to the sides, running
to the bottom, but they are two separate pieces- a relatively minor
fault that takes away from the bag’s overall strength.

The bag held about 10 pounds of odd things with no signs of
stress. I felt good about not taking any unnecessary plastic home.
I brought a back pack, which carried items from a small grocer on
Newark Street- I was so green that day; I felt like giving Al Gore a call.

I realized that these bags probably wouldn’t sell that well at
C-Town. This store caters to urbanites of moderate means; people
who have more pressing concerns to deal with, such as budgeting for
food and paying rent and utility bills. I don’t think feeling good about
the environment is that high on their list.

Don’t pardon me if I sound like a snob. I believe that the self-
congratulatory, politically correct crowd at upscale grocers such as
Whole Foods care about the environment because it is a leisure-time
activity- all of their pressing needs are taken care of.

A way to sell more of these “green bags” would be to cross-promote
them. Producers of American processed food and drinks should offer
coupons and discounts to shoppers who buy these bags- and offer
incentives to use them on a regular basis. After all, government
subsidies make their key ingredients artificially cheap; I feel that
they would want to give something back in order to boost their
standing in society. (Just a few feet past the green bag display was
a rack filled with 2 liter bottles of sweet, syrupy soda that were
priced at 99 cents- cheaper than most bottled water.)

I bought a bag because 99 cents is much less than I pay for a cup
of coffee, and it made me feel good about myself. To many of the
shoppers at C-Town in Jersey City, 99 cents buys a large bottle of
soda, a can of Speggettios, a bag of chips, etc. People that are
concerned about having enough money to survive would be more
likely to be environmentally aware if there was an incentive attached.
(By the way, my new green bags are still sitting in my kitchen; they
have not left the house for a return trip to C-Town, or any other store
for that matter.)

©Greg Strid 2008
Here is link to the Earthwise site:
http://www.earthwisebags.com/

Democrats Tarred As Spinach Lovers

After months of finessing the English language and
posing somberly in front of news cameras, the
Democratic leadership on Capitol Hill was allowed
a brief moment in which to savor the sweet taste
of victory. A ‘triumph’ for the American people was
announced yesterday by the legislative majority
after the Senate squeaked through a $124 billion
war spending bill that has provided fuel for an
ideological debate concerning the way forward in
the increasingly chaotic land of Iraq.

The slim margin of victory (the actual vote was 51-46)
guarantees that President Bush’s threatened veto
will not be overcome. The Bush administration and
other proponents of the relatively new “Surge” battle
plan are incensed that the language in this bill calls
for a departure date for American troops if the Iraqi
government does not reach certain benchmarks that
focus on creating a truly unified government.

The Democrats believe that the “Surge” is nothing
more than an escalation of U.S. troop involvement
in and around Baghdad, and that it is just another
example of the President’s failure to grasp the dire
situation in Iraq. They consider his opposition to
taking a truly new approach that would put real
pressure on the squabbling band of inept Iraqi
politicians sheltered in the Green Zone to be the
real problem, and have tied this to his disastrous
decision to start this war in the first place.

Mr. Bush asserts that ‘arbitrary’ deadlines will
embolden our long list of enemies in Iraq, and
that the Democrats are withholding vital funds
from our troops by inserting such incendiary
language into this spending bill. He is also
claiming that it is loaded with ‘pork’ spending
for irrelevant projects, and has cited the $25
million earmarked for spinach growers in California
to disparage the opposition.

But, after peeling away the rhetoric and examining
the facts, the ‘pork’ that the president speaks of
could barely fill the stomach of one of the millions
of starving American children who are continuously
ignored by his administration. The bill actually calls
for $5 billion to be spent on health care for veterans
and active duty military personnel, and $1.3 billion
to fix the levees damaged by hurricane Katrina.
Mr. Bush is correct when he says that there is a
sizable component of the spending unrelated to the
war, but he is way off the mark when he labels it as
pork.

As for lighting the fires of motivation under America’s
enemies, he has no one but himself to blame. This
war was ultimately one of choice, and has been
handicapped by inept planning and execution from
the start. In order to win what is basically a counter-
insurgency campaign, the focus must shift to fostering
political and economic development. The longer
Mr. Bush continues to cling to the iron fist approach,
the closer Iraq will come to complete destruction.

The significance of this spending bill lies in the fact
that the real debate about how to salvage the
disaster that is Iraq has begun. The troops will
receive the resources that they need, contrary to
the President’s dire, yet unfounded assertions.
Iraq’s corrupt and coddled politicians will finally
feel a little heat on their ample bottoms, forcing
them to contemplate their fate if American troops
leave the Green Zone. It is time for all parties
involved to put the rhetoric and political posturing
aside and produce a real solution to a mess that
is threatening to destabilize the entire Middle East.

© Greg Strid 2007