Sack-it to me

Let me get right to the point: It's never okay to re-use your Victoria's Secret merchandise bag to carry things other than recently purchased lingerie.

You may be thinking to yourself, "But I want to do my part to save the planet! So what if I choose to put my sack lunch in the same bag that I used to bring home my lace panties! Every little bit counts!"

And while that is true, I don't think that environmentalist groups meant for women around the globe to be marching through the streets with beat up pink-striped paper bags containing their sundry items. **

Perhaps, the most ridiculous reason ever offered for this practice was given by a friend of mine who actually said, "Oh, I like carrying my Vickie's bag around. I think it's sexy!" When she said that, part of me died, and the rest of me wanted to drag her to a shrink to study what was clearly the beginnings of a destructive self-loathing disorder.

Sexy does not come from the big shiny pink store, and proximity to their bags certainly does not increase your measurable "sexy-factor." Nothing good has ever come from a out-of-context Vickie's bag. No guy has ever called his buddy and said, "Dude, did you see Stacy this morning! She brought her lunch in a Victoria's Secret bag. That is totally hot, and at the same time I truly respect her strength as a woman." It's never happened. Ever.

If you really care about the planet, and want to save yourself and the general public around you from an awkward "pink bag" incident, invest in a good reusable tote. I personally like the Envirosax. You get different colors and some fun designs from a bag that is meant to make more than one appearance. And when you're done with it you can shove it in your real purse.

Once you get the hang of using your tote-able totes, you can keep one on you. So the next time you go to VS, you can tell the girl at the register you don't need a bag! And when you walk out of the store, your Victoria's Secret will actually be a secret. It's sneaky, it's environmentally conscious, and that's sexy.


** the same is true for old bags from Bloomingdale's, Forever21 and H&M.