Dear Umbra,
I live less than a half-mile from a supermarket, and prefer to do my errands by foot. Any thoughts on where I could buy a top-of-the-line utility cart? I’m willing to pay a premium for something lightweight, smooth-rolling, stable, foldable, and durable (or if not durable, then easy to recycle when it breaks!). Something stylish would be a bonus: it might just convince my neighbors to follow suit.
Liz
Alexandria, Va.
Dearest Liz,
Generally I don’t like to shop for people, because it’s so easy to go wrong with brand or site favoritism, but this seems like a safe enough bet. It’s also a terribly worthwhile cause: extricating you and your neighbors from your cars is part of my master plan.
![](http://grist.org/wp-content/uploads/2005/08/red_wagon.jpg)
Don’t leave home without it.
In New York City, everyone seems to have little carts, because there is no other way, except delivery, to get a decent amount of groceries home. If we all pretended we lived in New York, the world would be a better place, car-wise. You’ll find the classic New York-style shopping cart to be a sturdy, practical friend.
For alternatives, I found completely foldable, impressive, hand-truckish items at Ergoboy.com and the oddly named (but don’t be too alarmed) Massage Unit. For both of these, you would need to rig your own boxes — maybe a couple of milk crates, or something slicker.
Let me also give you a few practical ideas that don’t require extra rigging. My friends with toddlers use their strollers to hold groceries, and here is a stroller without the toddler part. (Of course, ditching the kids is good for plenty of other reasons too.) The Radio Flyer red wagon is a classic, as is the durable, Amish-built, wooden-slat wagon.
A ridiculous idea — yet amusing to consider — is to buy a motorized golf-bag cart, buy a vintage golf bag, and use that. Or check out Mother Earth News‘ instructions for adding bicycle wheels to a grocery cart; this tutorial dates from the 1980s, but it looks just as good today.
That’s a review of practical and kooky carts, but there is one more. I’ve decided that the best cart for you in terms of cool, unusual, and functional is a postal “caddy cart” or “satchel cart.” You might have them in Alexandria. They are little metal horses with blue saddlebags on them that mail carriers push about. The trouble is, I don’t know where you can buy one. Stay tuned. I’m sure a gruntled postal carrier will write in and let us know how to find this sure-to-be-hip shopping must-have.
Hopefully,
Umbra