apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I met a young woman on the subway this morning sporting a "I am not a plastic bag" shoulder bag sold at Wholefoods. She also carried (what elese!) doubled pink plastic bags with food purchases in it. So much for decreasing the use of plastic bags.

All can do is laugh at that. I can share a plastic bag story as well. I bring my paper/plastic bags back the store with me to reuse (you also get 2 cents back per bag but I'm not really in it for the 40 cents). The cashier bags my grocerries, mostly in the bags I brought with me, but puts the rest in two or three new plastic bags and hands be back empty paper bags. duh.

Ah, Mason, Mason, why am I not surprised?

Anyone have any tips for training grocery clerks to grasp the concept of "don't use 20 plastic bags for 21 items"? I'm not going to worry the ones who are clearly part of a work program for the developmentally challenged, but... if I bring my own bag or ask for all my items to go in the minimum number of plastic bags, the only store where I'm not treated like a nut case is Wild Oats. And I just don't resonate to their deli enough to want to shop there regularly.

Politely asking in order to get "attitude" from the clerks is getting old... but I'm sure it's socially inappropriate to bind and gag the clerk with plastic bags, then bag my own groceries as I see fit.

I go through the self-scanner, so I decide how many bags to use.

Joan A, I don't know of a single store in NYC that has self scanners other than Home Depot. I usually open up my used plastic bags as I wait to get to cashier and then I start packing my own groceries. The baggers tend to give me ugly looks but smile when I contribute to their tip cup.

Really? It doesn't seem to be too bad here (for Nevada), but I usually try to specify - something mild like "Oh just stuff it all in there, I'm not going far" or something to that effect and then I only get one or two extra plastic bags. Which I promptly unload and stuff into the tops of my (not full) canvas bags. People seem to get used to it. And if they're not fast enough I just bag it my own damn self so I then have NO plastic bags. Bleah. I usually want paper anyways if I haven't brought my own.

Self-scanners are rare at grocery stores here. Fry's has them, but shopping at Fry's works best if you're experimenting with 16 exciting ways to serve Hamburger Helper. Decent produce requires Safeway (if you feel lucky), AJ's (if your luck caused you to win the lottery), or Sprouts.

They've gotten smart here and arranged the checkstands so you have to physically push the bagger aside to bag your own groceries. Grrrr...

anyone know of a white drum-shaped pendant shade with an enclosed bottom? i don't want to see the lightbulbs. i'm having trouble finding anything like this...

Food Emporium and Pathmark have self-scan sections.

No odder than a vegetarian in leather shoes. ;)

Does anyone have a favorite source for wooden headboards? I love the ones at West Elm, but I fear they don't look as good in person as they do online. My bedroom is very narrow and I don't have room for a footboard (not if I actually want to walk around the bed, which I do). I also love hotel-looking headboards, like the one seen in the first Mitchell-Gold bedroom photo upthread.

(Please, no recs for making my own. Thanks!)

kdkaboom--
CB2 has a hanging drum pendant with a bottom diffuser.

The CVS near me just put in self-scanners.

But I'm still trying to get the cashiers at the grocery stores to NOT put all four 2-liter bottles of Diet Coke in one bag.

One battle at a time for me!! :)

I need your help! I recently registered for the gorgeous Rosenthal Moon(solid white) porcelain dinnerware. However, I can't find complementary (and reasonably priced) sterling flatware to save my life. Anything in my price range tends to be all that formal, scripty, swirly Victorian nonsense.

I'm lusting over Georg Jensen sterling like Bernadotte, Caravel and Cypress, and Robbe and Berking sterling esp. Alta, Riva and Viva.

... but those price points ($800 for a 5-piece set) are way out of my league. I need something in the $200-499 for a 5-piece setting range.

I know Apartment Therapy has a mid-century modern bend, so I thought I'd ask you experts:
a) Any recommendations for sterling that would fit the bill?
or b) Should I just go with Georg Jensen stainless?

**endless thanks**

thanks patrick!

that's actually what i want, just...i'd like to spend a little more on it! quality and all that. ;)

plus, i'd hard wire it.

it's so weird, my lighting issues. either it's $19.99 or it's $1999.99. so bizarre.

Guess what? London Urchin's table/chair set is on Craigslist.

http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/fur/392344254.html

What a day for the Scavenger to take off.

Weren't there some people DESPERATE for that London Urchin dining set? I hope THEY aren't on vacation. It's pretty great.

IKEA Elizabeth put in self-scanners recently. I used them this past weekend and rediscovered that I am a super-efficient cashier.

I admit that I tend to forget to bring bags with me, or I will go when I am out doing other things, and thus don't have bags with me. However can you please explain why a BAG of potatos needs another bag of it's own? Or a gallon of Orange juice (with a much more comfortable handle) would need a bag by itself?

I prefer to bag my own groceries either way, because I like to group like things in bags (eg pantry items, dairy, frozen items). That way I can grab all of the frozen items on the first trip and throw them in my freezer all in one shot, before I let the excited dogs out. And putting them in order on the convery belt doesn't help either.


Yes I am anal retentive.

Helena - Check out the America pattern in the contemporary group at Michael C. Fina..."similar" to Bernadotte.

The self-checkout scanners at the Shopper's I sometimes go to in Alexandria is terribly confusing and doesn’t like to let you bag your own stuff - there is some sort of scale under the bagging area, and it can tell if you don't put your items in their bag. The automated voice gets all pissy and starts saying "Please bag item!" over and over again. And God forbid you put your own cloth bag down in the bagging area - "Unrecognized object in bagging area! Please remove! Unrecognized...!" The line for the self-checkout is always shorter, so I always head over there, but it ends up taking me twice as long as the people who deal with a human cashier, because of the bagging issues. So annoying.

coutina - I put my things in order on the belt too! I always put fragile things like eggs and bread at the end so they'll be on top but it never ends up that way. I never realized I was so anal about it until I went with my boyfriend at the time and it really bothered me how he put the groceries on the belt. haha

kdkaboom--
How refreshing that someone thought a suggestion was too cheap! But, I like the quality at CB2, and you con convert a plug-in to a hardwire, definitely. So perhaps don't rule it out.

But have you tried Alluminaire?
http://www.alluminare.com/

Helena, we got some lovely plain modern silverware from Crate and Barrel when we got married, I think the name was Couture or something cheesy like that. But I really like them and they have a nice heavy sturdy feel to them.

I now have my new computer installed and all set, and I was able to even migrate my favorites over, because of my favorite computer guy, and this was my trail run of actually USING the new favorites thing. I'm so excited!

Wende,

I have never really had a problem with the bag situation. I bring my own bags and just tell them "I don't need a bag". If they don't get it, I say it again or sometimes I just pull out the bags and start packing them myself while the bagger is finishing the previous person's. If for some reason I don't have my bags with me, or the items get packed in plastic, I just stand there and take my items out and tell them to keep the bags for the next person. Sometimes I smile and make a comment about how wasteful Americans are, which usually gets them to smile too.

Helena,
What about Calvin Klein? Or for modern stainless, what about the Conran Shop (are you NYC - not sure their website is that helpful)?

Curtis
congrats on the new system.

Wende, et al:
Self scanners? I've only seen them for price checks, not at check outs where I shop. My issue with baggers is that they don't know how to bag regardless of whether the bag is ecologically sound or not.

Rosie - If you put the first item you scan into your own bag before putting it on the scale, you can usually trick the scale into letting you use your own bag. :o) ~Mariah

Self-scanners are everywhere in South Florida... Home Depot, Lowe's, Winn-Dixie... apparently, people are more trustworthy down there than here in the dodgy Big Apple. ;)

There are also many more "fill your own soda" things down there too!

kdkaboom--

Just discovered Seascape Lamps:

http://seascapelamps.com/pages/MainMenu/products/hanging_lamp.aspx

All feature bottom diffusers, and lots of custom options, all in the ballpark of $200, give or take. Looks promising!

patrick, thank you!!! i'm so glad i came back here to look for other recommendations. that site rocks, and i can't believe i hadn't seen it before?? seriously, my google-fu is pretty keen, but i somehow missed those!

thanks again!
katy