After reading this post, don't forget to enter our contest – you could win a new dishwasher. Plus, do you have your own story to tell? Send it to greenchallenge@canadianliving.com (no more than 300 words, please), and you could win one of 30 daily prizes. Today's winner is Sol Ott of Halifax.

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My blood ran cold when I heard the news. My neighbourhood grocery store – the store I had been frequenting for years – was making a big change. They were no longer supplying plastic bags. Surely it can't be true, I thought. For as long as I could remember, the plastic grocery bag had been a part of my life – as a child we had a special drawer designated as the storage centre for the tangled mass of plastic that would serve as garbage bags, lunch bags, pooper-scooper content keepers, and the list goes on. How could life ever be the same without them? I'm a relatively "green" person – I walk most places I go and take public transit the rest of the time, I'm very conscious of my electricity usage, and like most people, I've been recycling for years. But something about this new step felt a little drastic, and it wasn't just me. The only individual store of a large chain going completely bagless was the one in my neighbourhood, but it was getting a lot of attention in the province. Our local talk radio show dedicated several hours of several episodes to the topic of bagless grocery stores, and there were a lot of callers who were angry about it. Many even threatened to go to a different store if it ever happened near them, and that's when I really started wondering if the resistance to this change was rational; was it really that big a deal? A week before the plastic-bag ban was to begin, I decided I was going to buy some of the recyclable bags the store sold for 99 cents, and get used to them before I actually had to use them. To my surprise, they were great! They held more, the wide cloth handles were much more comfortable to carry, and they folded up and put away neatly (unlike the plastic mess). I couldn't be happier with the change, and I actually feel a sense of pride that "my" store was the first, and so far only, one to go completely plastic bag-free. As I initially feared, I still forget to have some with me from time to time, and thus I've amassed a fairly large collection, but I've started giving my extras to friends and family and they love them too! Everyone should try it whether you have to or not – I'm sure you'll find that you won't miss those polluting plastic bags at all!

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Thanks to Sol for sending in her story. Sol wins a Waterpik Aquascape shower head, courtesy of Home Depot. Today's code word: bagless Read more: • Getting rid of plastic bags in the home • Sew a recycled tote bag out of juice bags • Sew a simple and stylish tote bag • Crocheted eco-friendly carryall