Ah yes, carbon footprint. Did you know that a lone staple wire, which you let the store clerk use on your kraft paper bag, can add to your carbon footprint? Well, I didn’t know about this, until this guy at the checkout counter pointed it out, alas not to me, but to his co-worker, within earshot. I would have appreciated it if he had said it to me directly, but apparently he figured I can’t be trusted with the delicate issue of the evil staple wire.
Because there's a carbon footprint too in a staple wire, here's the guilt-free staple-wire-free Stapler.
I don’t know why I even asked for the paper bag in the first place. If I hadn’t asked for a bag, the lady wouldn’t have whipped out her stapler. Normally, I shun both paper and plastic bags like they’re bats, preferring instead to stick my purchases inside my own reusable bag. But that day I figured I wanted a paper bag, no, two bags—one for the bottle of sunflower oil, the other for the strawberry seed facial scrub (I was at my favorite organic shop), because I’ve been meaning to give them as gifts, and because there’s still something to be said for peeking into and opening a paper bagged gift, than just being handed it straight away, with no peel-away suspense by any means.
Maybe I wouldn’t feeling so bad if those two clerks had included me in the conversation, since I was right in front of them anyway, and it’s my paper bags they’re stapling. I’m actually very receptive to new ideas, just be sure to tell it to my face. I know could have stopped the woman, but she was too quick with the stapler. I could have asked her to simply fold the bags twice over to seal them and I’d be fine with that.
So there I was standing at the checkout line, hearing about the dangers and environmental woes caused by staple wires as if they were my brainchild. In the space of time it took the woman to competently staple the paper bags, I felt like I just felled a tree and depleted iron ores.
Okay, so staple wires aren’t eco-friendly; they’re one-time-use products that don’t get recycled (who ever heard of recycling staple wires? feasible, yes, but just plain impractical). When you consider that all over the world, a given number of people are stapling something every minute, then you have lots and lots of staple wires to deal with. My apologies for not having the exact statistics, but you get the picture.
Apparently, the greener alternative is the paper clip. They’re perfectly reusable and happily blunt and don’t puncture you unnecessarily and never get jammed in staplers. Plus, unlike staple wires, you can daisy chain paper clips.
I’m almost ashamed to admit that in the past I was more concerned about me accidentally stepping on one of those vagabond staple wires cruelly left on the floor, than about whether they’re eco-friendly or not at all. Other than that, I got through college by stapling pretty much everything: Xeroxed readings, class notes, etc, and so up to now I just don’t feel guilty about not using its more eco-friendly rival, the humble paper clip.
Which finally brings me to the topic of guilt. I figured I’m an adult now and must be spared of that useless emotion. You can’t guilt me for using staple wires, any more than you can guilt me for still eating Big Macs. Soon as I got out of the store I wanted to march back and tell those guys, Look here, I’m not really like this. I’m actually concerned about my carbon footprint, I just didn’t know I had to stay away from staple wires too. Then I’d enumerate all the good things I do:
- I use a washable grocery bag
- I buy local as much as possible
- I don’t buy bottled water and canned soda
- I use both sides of the paper
- I don’t use drinking straws
- I rescue spiders and earthworms
- I try not to waste water
- I plant trees
- I don’t print out ATM receipts
- I compost! (Been doing that for the last four years)
- And I commute!
- and more…
Which is why I can ask for a tiny kraft bag and not feel guilty about it. Even if you stapled it too. I figured a little concession like that doesn’t exactly cancel out all my good deeds. So please don’t start on me about some stupid staple wire which I didn’t ask for in the first place!
I never got to tell them any of the above because I’m too polite to speak my mind. The point is: if you’re sure as to where you stand, you don’t need anyone telling you you’re doing it wrong. You don’t need anyone calculating your carbon footprint for you in the same way that you don’t need to fret too much about it in the first place. And you certainly don’t need to feel guilty about a piece of staple wire from time to time.
Of course, from now on I’ll limit my staple wire use too just because I know now.
