I Do Not Need a Bag - David Roth

I go shopping every day, I buy lots of things

Paper clips and party hats, rubber bands and rings

And when I’ve picked out what I want and comes the time to pay

They ask me how I want it wrapped and this is what I say

I do not need a bag, I do not need a bag

I do not need a bag, I do not need a bag

To take a brand new bag

Each time I shop’s a drag

Thank you kindly but I do not need a bag

I went into the kitchen to fix a bite to eat

I had a taste for something tart or maybe something sweet

But every shelf I opened up and every drawer was stuffed

With supermarket paper sacks and plastic pouches puffed

I do not need these sacks, I do not need these sacks

I do not need these sacks, I do not need these sacks

With all these extra sacks

I cannot find my snacks

Thank you kindly but I do not need these sacks

The trees out in the forest, they are friends to me

They’re fun to climb and give me shade and air to breathe

And plastic bags do not biodegrade too well

In landfills and in garbage dumps

They suffocate the Earth… and they smell

So now I take a cotton bag when I go to the store

I’ve used it many, many times, I’m sure I’ll use it more

And every time I use my bag I help to save a tree

If everybody did the same, just think how smart that’d be

We wouldn’t waste our bags, we wouldn’t waste our trees

We’d have more branching out, we’d have less plastic sleaze

We’d have more bark, less bite, we’d have more piles of leaves

Oh, I’ll never take a bag that I don’t need

I do not need a bag, I do not need a bag

I do not need a bag, I do not need a bag

To take a brand new bag

Each time I shop’s a drag

Thank you kindly but I do not

Thank you kindly but I do not

Thank you kindly but I do not need a bag