Paper bags are cool.

Of the many things I realized on my recent trip to the 2 hill stations, Dalhousie and Dharamshala, in Himachal Pradesh recently was that paper bags are cool. For everyone. Shopkeepers, environmentalists, consumers and most importantly nature.

They make paper bags out of, well, paper. And they make paper out of wood which makes it bio degradable. Which supposedly means it will mix with nature in some time and cause no harm to the environment. And not to forget, it’s easier to recycle. So more preferred over polythene bags. And recycling means we don’t have to cut down any more trees any longer (see that keeps the environment cool; literally).

Well the following events made me realise how cool paper bags actually are.

So, I was at a general store purchasing chocolates and biscuits and chocolate biscuits when I saw a girl holding on to a colorful paper bag. It didn’t have a handle like a plastic bag. She was holding on to it like she would hold a baby. I thought that was good because that would actually increase the awareness about the packet she was holding, and at some sub conscious level, not let her take her shopping for granted. And the packet was, as I already mentioned, colorful.

It is good for shopkeepers and manufacturers.

I asked the shopkeeper for a traditional polythene bag. His response to my request wasn’t the politest. He sort of ‘warned’ me to not ask for a polythene bag again. The tone of his voice really frightened me. I started believing either he’d find out if I asked for a polythene and then he’d come and beat me up or the other person who I ask for a polythene bag would beat me up. It puts them all in an unwritten team. They’re all a part of a team that wants to use paper bags. United we stand.

For the manufacturers it offers a great opportunity to advertise themselves. You see, when somebody walks by me with a polythene bag in their hand I don’t care to look down at what’s written on it. But when they’re holding a paper bag close to themselves like a baby (I’m talking about the paper bags without those shoelace kind of handles or cut outs in them so they can be held like a polythene bag; that takes the fun out). So these paper bags which people hold like babies, are a great way of advertising. You see because I don’t look down all the way to their knee level which is where the bag is probably hanging. If you walk by me holding the bag up high I’ll take notice of the brand name on the bag.

And we all know how it helps the environmentalists. It gives them peace of mind.

So it makes the consumers feel good about the stuff they buy, unites the small time shopkeepers, good advertising opportunity for the manufacturers, and peace of mind for the environmentalists and everyone else. And a blessing for Mother Nature.

What more can we ask for?

So governments of various nations, please pass laws that get your people to use paper bags instead of polythene bags.