'Granny carts' for your groceries

Penn students may soon find they have a lot more in common with their grandmothers.

Starting next semester, students will be able to rent small shopping carts - commonly known as "granny carts" - and canvas bags from Harrison College House as part of the pilot program of a new Undergraduate Assembly initiative headed by the Sustainability, Safety and Facilities Committee.

"We wanted to convert to sustainability" said UA college representative and College and Wharton senior Sakina Zaidi, who is spearheading the program, "but also provide a convenient service to students in the houses."

Canvas bags and granny carts have a limited but growing presence in area supermarkets, but the UA hopes this service will make the carts a more appealing option for students who would normally resort to plastic shopping bags when picking up groceries.

"[Carts are] a really good way to transport all your food," said College sophomore Jennifer Feldstein, who bought her cart at the beginning of the year. She uses it every week to buy food not just for her apartment but for Penn Hillel as well.

The one downside, Feldstein added, is actually bringing the cart out in public.

"I get laughed at by random people in the street seeing me with eight zillion bags and a granny cart," she said. "But they would be laughing at me a lot more if I had 30 bags in my hand."

Canvas totes and granny carts are also for sale at Fresh Grocer - the carts retail for $28.29 - but Engineering junior Miki Friedmann got his straight from the source: his grandmother, Minna.

"My whole room uses them about once a week when we go to Fresh Grocer" said Friedmann, who also finds his cart in high demand among his neighbors in Rodin College House.

Wharton junior and Penn Environmental Group co-director Laura Boudreau applauded the UA for investing in a project that could promote easy sustainability.

"It shows that doing things that are good for the environment can also be more convenient for yourself," she said.

Boudreau added that she hopes the initiative will encourage more students to think about their impact on the environment and maybe even buy their own reusable bags.

The program still has some kinks to work out - factors like how long students can rent the carts and where they will be stored is still up in the air. But, Zaidi explained, the UA hopes to expand the scope of its project once it has established success in Harrison.

"I think they definitely will be successful, there is certainly a need for it, and it will make a lot of people's lives easier," Friedmann said. "I hope it takes off."

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