“Would you like a paper receipt or an e-receipt?”
In my previous post, I mentioned that I recently purchased the Ecocube. When the cashier was ringing me up, she asked me a simple question: whether I would like a paper receipt, or to have the receipt emailed to me. Considering that I was buying an eco-friendly product, I automatically chose the second option. After all, it seems quite hypocritical to ask for a paper receipt after making a sustainable purchase.
Little did I know that this question would have affected my decisions for the rest of the day. Continuing with my shopping spree, I made a few more purchases in other stores. However, I found myself telling cashiers that I didn’t need plastic bags at check-out and requesting for e-receipts. I ended up stuffing all of my purchases into my backpack. Yes, it got heavy, but that’s better than carrying several plastic bags around the mall and creating waste.
I am normally someone who values convenience, and wouldn’t turn down a plastic bag. Though I know it’s not the most eco-friendly thing to do, I always make sure I reuse the plastic bags – whether that is using it as a garbage bag or to store my other belongings.
So… what suddenly made me act this way?
I asked myself the same question. To be completely honest, I think I was reluctant to want paper receipts and bags because I thought it would contradict my first purchase: the Ecocube. I started the day making a choice to support a green business, and that created a ripple effect in the rest of my decisions for the day.
As I become more interested in the topic of sustainability and learn more about different green initiatives and businesses, I actively remind myself to live a more sustainable lifestyle. I know this change will be a process and won’t happen overnight, but I am hopeful that after every passing day, I will be making more educated decisions in my daily life!
Hi Nicole,
I felt identified with your post, because as you mentioned, I sometimes also would like to choose convenience over sustainable practices. However, since taking this course and living in Vancouver, I have been finding myself making more sustainable-conscious decisions, from taking a backpack when shopping to stop asking for the copy of my receipts.
It’s pretty cool to realize that I’m not the only one who’s finding new ways to introduce sustainability into her life.
Hi Nicole,
I can definitely relate myself with your post, I would prefer connivence over sustainable practices. But this course taught me that even small decisions like e – receipts would impact the environmentally positively. As an individual, I want to contribute as much as I can towards sustainability practices.
I make a constant effort to not by plastic bags from grocery store and stuff as much as I can in my bagpack. I think another way to solve this problem is to complete ban plastic bags and make sure consumers go through the pain of carrying their grocery without a bag. Despite, this being a harsh step it would definitely change the shopping behaviour.
Hello Nicole!
I can totally relate to this post. As a student, I don’t have a car and I never plan my trips to grocery stores. Thus, I never carry plastic bags in my backpack. Although I would love to become more environmentally friendly, sometimes doing so is just really convenient. The same happens with coffee cups. It is just really impractical to carry a reusable mug everywhere. My two biggest concerns with being sustainable or buying sustainable products are the following: convenience and actual quality of the products. Nonetheless, I do believe that every company should implement and suggest e-receipts. I consider that e-receipts are even more convenient than traditional paper receipts, as we can keep track of them easier. E-receipts are also for sure way better for the environment!
Hi, Nicole!
Thank you for sharing your experience! I grow up in Beijing, which is the capital of. China but also a city that is lack of water, and most of the water we use in Beijing is transported from few southern provinces. I was also told not to drink the tap water directly and I usually filled my bottle with cooled-down boiled water before school. I also tried many water brands but still not a fan of bottled water, I will only buy bottled water when I don’t have a bottle or there is no where to refill my bottle.
Same as you, it was quite unacceptable for me to drink purified clean tap water when I went abroad for the first time, I went to the UK and the hotel owner told me I could refill my bottle with the tap water, Although I know it is possible to do so, I still felt quite weird as I need to get the tap water from the restroom… but now, when I am studying in Netherlands, I would refill my bottle with tap water normally when I am out of boiled water, and I almost don’t buy bottled water at all (some of my Dutch friends told me that the quality of tap water is even better than bottled water, but I doubt it)
In some provinces of China, the tap water is more alkaline than normal even if the water reaches the standard. I felt it before and this kind of water would make it really difficult to foam when using the soap. Therefore I think I am really lucky to enjoy the water that is safe and has good quality.
Sorry I posted the comment under the wrong article…
Hi Nicole!
This article is quite impressive! E-receipt is a really good invention as the information on the traditional receipt may be faded out and it is really difficult to find the receipt you want if you have a pile of receipt from different stores. Whereas for e-receipt, it would be much more easier to find the one you want just by filtering your mailbox by few keywords.
But I think the traditional paper-based receipt should also exists. I think not only we customers should consider our behaviour but also the stores should also need to improve their receipt service and the use of the receipt paper. For example, sometimes it is quite normal to get a fairly long receipt even if only one product is purchased. The retailers and store owners could also make the receipt design simpler in order to save the material as well as lower the cost.