Tax Me Will You?

I know I haven't posted in a reeeeallllly long time. Haven't had much to say or share. Same old thing for the most part. I've saved you from boredom. Really. Really, really. But today you are lucky! Not only do I have something to share, you get to read me rant!

Now I'm not a tree-hugger. Wasn't one in the 60s/70s, am not one now. I believe man has been given dominion over the earth and if a home needs to go up, I could give a flying squat about the kangaroo rat or the fairy shrimp. Yep, I said fairy shrimp. Now that's not to say I picture myself as irresponsible. Lawd, no. I believe we should occupy the buildings we have before we build more. I believe we should save the rain forests because, quite simply, I like to breathe and there's good medicine in them thar trees.

I even hate the plastic bags you're forced to take home from the store. I always ask for paper. Yes, it takes a tree to make a paper sack, but we can grow more trees. We can't save the soil and water tables, however, from the poison those plastic bags emit as they "don't ever rot". But I, like everyone else, would pile those darn things into the trunk of my car every weekend as I ran the shopping errands. Until...

Some idiot legislator out of L.A. county decided it would be quite dandy to add a 25 cent tax to every plastic bag you take out of the store. If he was proposing it for environmental reasons, I would have probably bought into it quietly. But he's not. He's just scrounging more revenue for the state on top of the billions of taxes that have been collected from cigarettes, gas and other assorted high-taxed items that they haven't even spent! It hasn't passed as a new tax law yet, but if it doesn't, someone else will keep singing the song until it does.

But my real problem is that I've seen far too many people in the grocery store or at the local Wal-Mart with their calculator in their hand punching in those numbers as they add things to their cart so they know they'll have enough money when they get to the register. Now, they'll need to factor in that unknown quantity of plastic bags into their calculations. Because we all know how many times you're forced to double-bag because they tear. So don't buy that extra box of cereal or gallon of milk. You have bags to pay for!

Can you tell this chaps my hide? So the revolt begins... I am vowing to never take home my purchases in plastic bags again. Join me, won't you?

Market Bag #1



A HUGE market bag fit for Farmers Markets and Swap Meets. The enormo-bag was made with Lion's Market Bag pattern using Sugar 'n Cream. I could run away from home with this bag.

Market Bag #2



This is the one I'll make over and over for those bi-monthly trips to the grocery store. I found this pattern at Nancy's Crochet. I modified the pattern a wee bit, but the nod goes to her. Basically, wherever the pattern called for 2 rows of dc, I made 3 rows of hdc. I also made the straps lengthwise to reduce some of the stretch. I made the bottom the size of a paper grocery sack (which is smaller than the pattern.) Other than that, the only customization is the leaf button I added for pizzazz.

There are many free patterns for knitted, crocheted and sewn market bags out there on the net. Just include "market bag", "shopping bag" or "grocery bag" in your search.

Now join me in the Anti-Plastic Bag Tax Revolt of 2008!