Whether official or not, we wear many different uniforms over the course of our lives.  I don’t mean the itchy woolens of the marching band or numbered jerseys of organized sports.  I’m talking about similar clothing you choose every day to match that period of your life.  The uniforms I sported in the halls of my high school or on my college campus, were different than what I wore during my 20s as a young professional.  What I wore as a nursing mother to an infant, is different than the standard dark jeans and durable (read: washable) cottons I wear to face a toddler everyday.

When I finally found a job, I was both excited and anxious about getting  to wear an office uniform again.  Excited because those clothes had been sitting in my closet since Y2K and anxious because…nylons, really?!  Ugg.

Well what happens when you cross big-girl clothes with two real-life little girls?  Trips to the dry cleaner.

When picking up some work slacks previously adorned with size 5 footprints across the front of the thighs, I was presented with this familiar sight:

The ubiquitous dry cleaner bag and its evil friend, the wire hangar.  Both have infiltrated my home with legions of their friends over the years.

Staring at that bag, even with two munchkins tear-assing around the shop, I knew I had finally switched my mindset to daily Zero Waste.

I asked the lady in the shop, “Will you reuse this bag if I leave it here?”

She shrugs.

“Sure.  Why not?”

Not sure what to make of that but damn sure I wasn’t taking them home, I slipped my wool-blend off the carboard …and wished her a good day.
 

 

Considering this is an environmental blog, I will need to reassess my use of this method of cleaning since dry cleaners produce hazardous and material waste.  But that’s another day.

Right now I’m already thinking of the weekend so I can slip into those dark jeans and cotton tops.