biodegradable bags and thoughts on being green

When the cashier at Mountain Equipment Co-operative (MEC) asked if I wanted a plastic bag for my newly purchased sling-style bag, she said, "Do you want to add to your collection of bags?" (note: I had three other plastic bags full of groceries), I reluctantly agreed to take yet another one.

What I didn't realize was this MEC bag was biodegradable. This concept is very environmentally friendly. Growing up in my household, or family always used plastic bags from stores to collect our refuse. So having biodegradable plastic bags (if they are used as garbage bags) would be ideal. But I wonder what the shelf life of these bags are. Suppose the store doesn't use that many bags (as the disclaimer on the bag actually discourages its consumers from using additional bags), then what if they ordered too many bags? Are these bags ... garbage?

Earlier that day, I went grocery shopping with a friend in Chinatown. She opted to use a cloth bag to tote around her food purchases. Her cloth bag brought back memories of my mother, who being the pragmatic chinese seamstress she was, made bags for us when we were kids ... bags for library books, bags for ballet gear, for example. When Superstore started charging a per bag fee, she sewed several large cloth bags to use. I guess she was environmentally friendly way before it was fashionable.

Adjusting to Big City Life

I forgot how big and diverse the city of Toronto can be. And, because I've lived in smaller cities for most of the past seven years, I feel like a country bumpkin. Here are a few things I've noticed in the past few days ...

Apartment etiquette

If you are in an apartment lobby and you are trying to get into the apartment, ideally, you should have the main door key. If not, is it expected that a person in the apartment lobby should open the door for you (even if the person does not live in the apartment)? Well, this scenario popped up twice in the place I will be moving into in November. Personally, I think no one should open the door for another person unless they know they live in the apartment. There are cases when people have come in when they don't live there ... and that person could be looking for something to steal. My sister's condo had signs up about a person caught on camera ... as an intruder who broke in and entered into one of the apartments. Anyhow, these two people who thought I should have let them into the apartment were incredibly and needlessly rude when I didn't let them in. Maybe I had an invisible sign on my head that read "doorperson" or something. Please slap me if I ever get that rude!

Crazy Traffic Toronto

As part of the family vacation, usually I end up being the navigator (by default). This can be quite stressful - especially when the driver doesn't quite hear the directions correctly. For example, I instructed my father to drive past Sheppard and then he would find the 401 West exit. Instead, he turned right onto Sheppard. Sigh. Anyhow, we usually didn't get too lost ... we didn't end up in some strange state! It was advantageous to be the navigator as I was exposed to the street names. Hence, when looking for places to live, I recognized some of the streets and realized I wouldn't want to live that far out in the boonies (i.e. Kingston and Meadowvale ... which is located nearly in Scarborough!)

Cheap Outlet Shopping Malls

I don't mind this part of living in bigger cities. However, it is still a trek to get to these outlet malls. The one my parents and I went to today was ... still pretty far out there. However, I scored a couple of good deals: a jacket for $15 (normally $60) and a cute bag for $3 (normally $30) for my sister.

I must admit, there are some really friendly people here in Toronto too, thankfully. So, I guess things balance out in some weird way. It's kinda strange moving back to Toronto because, although I did used to live here four years, that was seven years ago. So much has changed. But I guess it's better than starting from scratch.

Finally... convocation!

family picture
Originally uploaded by shutter_grl.

Well, Friday, October 20, 2006 will go down in history ... for as the MLIS convocation. Here is my family (pictured above). We're smiling because we're relieved the ceremony is over. Or maybe we're satisfied with the yummy cake we've been fed by the alumni association.

The weather was overcast, cold and rainy. It was good seeing most of the classmates. One thing they don't tell you about completing your degree ... the final test ... learning how to hold your hood properly, walking on stage the at the right speed, order and manner, and kneeling properly in order to get hooded. It was enough information overload to make us a bit nervous crossing the stage. Thankfully everyone made it safely across the stage.

Afterwards, we went over to our family friend's place to pick up some of (about half) of my stuff to move to Toronto. The next day, the family friend dropped off the rest of the stuff (as he had to go to Toronto to pick up his wife from the airport).

Moving ... and other random thoughts

This is the most disjointed move I've ever made anywhere. The good news is that I have found a place to live in a good area with reasonable rent and good location. It's located right near the subway line so I don't have to spend hours commuting to work, thankfully. I hope to learn when I can move into this new place by tomorrow. It's been a while since I've had my own private space.

As for the other two interviews, one was filled internally while the other one was filled with someone who had more experience. So, things did work out in the end.