More than enough...

We have more of them than we use, but when we need one, it’s always someplace else. So we buy another rather than feel guilty. And some of us could be considered hoarders of them. I’m talking about tote bags, those reusable bags that replace the hated plastic bag and that so many times we forget to carry into stores when we go shopping.

Did you know the original tote bag began life as an ice carrier, then, it was re-invented in 1944 and continues to be sold today as L.L. Bean’s Boat Bag? Now it’s called a Boat and Tote and comes in different colors, sizes, and prices.

Some of my tote bags were free, many were gifts or carried gifts, and most of them could stand a good wash since I have my favorites that I tend to use all the time. Some are heavy duty and some are pretty shoddy, but instead of throwing those away, I always think I may need them sometime and stash them on the ever-growing piles in the remote area of a closet or in the storage area in my truck or whatever area might be handy when it’s served its purpose. Some have handles that are too long, and I tell myself, “Oh, I can easily shorten that.” But do I ever get around to it? No. Yet it stays in the pile. Why would I get rid of something so worthwhile? Something that makes me appear to be socially aware.

The top of the pile.

If I don’t have a tote with me when I need one, I buy a tote so none of my totes are extra nice or pretty…except for that lovely library tote my grand daughter gave me one Christmas, the one with handles so long it drags the ground when I carry it filled with books. Yes, yes, I’m going to shorten those handles, honestly.

And some totes can be the ugliest totes imaginable, but would I throw one away? Never! It seems blasphemous somehow, and how good does a tote have to be if I paid nothing for it? I think of all the sea life that might die of plastic bags if I throw away a tote that one day I might need to use. I can’t bring myself to do it.

I have even made totes, as in sewing on my sewing machine, an item in my home with which I’m not terribly familiar. But when I select the YouTube app on my laptop and type in “easy tote bags to make”, there are so many videos to watch, one always sucks me in. After all, I’m saving a dollar, right? They’re not that easy for a non-sewer like me to make, and mine always seem to turn out twisted and warped. But I keep those, too, and feel somewhat proud of myself, contributing as I am to the saving of the environment.

And there are ways to use totes that send them on their way to bigger and better purposes. I have loaded a few with clothing for Goodwill and left them, bag and all. And pretty ones, think T.J. Maxx, or cute ones like Trader Joe’s, make great gift bags. Of course, ones I give away, I wash if possible, throwing into the washer a few of the ones I keep, too. Some of them I learned the hard way not to dry in the dryer, but even air-drying, they never look quite as good as they did before. And canvas ones really need ironing, and I’m going to do that, someday. At least they’re clean.

Best of all, I’ve discovered how to never be without a tote bag. Yes, I bought another one. While browsing in Book Gallery West next to the Millhopper Publix, I found this full size tote bag rolled up into a tiny ball and fastened with a snap tie. It takes up hardly any room at all in my purse so now I am never toteless. My only problem is that maybe I should have bought two.