Over to the Dark Side

We try to be good little hippies by driving our hybrid when we can, joining a nearby CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), going to the farmer's market, have replaced our light bulbs with CFL bulbs, put water-saving devices on our showerhead and sinks, recycling, refilling our dishwashing soap containers with bulk eco-friendly detergents at the local green store, buying non-bleached, recycled paper goods at the local health food store, not eating at McDonald's, etc. But really, we haven't gone all out and we could certainly do more. We don't compost (we should), we still drive a lot - often to remote trailheads so we can hike in the woods and get dirty and smelly all the while walking north under the white blazes of the AT, etc. But we do try our best.

Anyway, the point of all this, is that I've always prided myself with supporting local businesses when we can, and not frequenting the big box stores like Walmart. Well, now we've gone and done it...

We've joined Sam's Club. We've joined the Dark Side.

Crap. What went wrong? We've resisted all this time... But there is something alluring about all the bulk items you can buy for cheap at Sam's Club. We finally had to be practical and realize that we were better off buying some of our non-perishables there. I mean where else can you get a 36-pack of Reese's Fast Breaks for $16.18? Or a huge 67 ounce bottle of hand sanitizer for $6.73? Yes, these are things we use, especially during hiking season, and it's hard to pass these deals up! Of course, we managed to spend a rather ridiculous sum of money in our hour there tonight, but hopefully, it means in the long run we have more left over to buy more good, local, organic produce at the farmer's markets... or at least more $$ to drive to the trailheads this summer!