In the last six months or so, I've been making a concerted effort at bringing my own, reusable bags to the grocery store with me in an attempt to reduce my personal consumption of plastic. I don't always remember to bring them with me (yesterday I was out and made a spur-of-the-moment run into Trader Joe's unbagged), but I'm trying. When I do make a purchase that results in being handed a plastic bag, I reuse or recycle them. I've amassed a nice collection of reusable sacks from Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, the Sierra Club and more local co-ops than I can list (a friend recently pointed out that my rapid consumption of reusable bags might be defeating the purpose of the exercise).
My dubious buying practices aside, I still think that reusable bags are the way to go. Reducing the consumption of plastic bags has become a world-wide trend recently. Modbury, England has banned them from their town. San Francisco is considering a similar ban in the city's grocery stores. If you are looking for some options in going reusable, the West Chester Dish, a food blog/online magazine out of West Chester, PA, has posted a nice round-up of some available reusable bags out there, as well as some tips for reusing and recycling the plastic sacks that most grocery stores uninhibitedly distribute.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2I used to use TJ's older canvas grocery bags, but stopped years ago. Now I opt for paper. Bags don't go to waste, I use them for trash in my kitchen, they stand up on their and work just fine. The times I buy things and get plastic bags seems to fit my needs for wet/messy things like chicken bones, skin and other things which would drip through the paper bags or otherwise make a smelly mess of my garbage can.
I'm sure there are one or two people out there who dutifully carry their reusable bag to the store each time who are also buying white plastic bags to line their kitchen garbage pails.
Whenever yet another municipality is talking about banning plastic grocery bags I ponder why they don't ban 5 gal plastic can liners also. At least with the grocery bag you can use them twice, those trashcan liners only get used once.
4Most of my re-usables that I use for groceries are totes from conferences and tradeshows. I love them - they are roomy and sturdy and I can fit about 3 times as much stuff in them as I could a plastic bag from a store.
Where I live, stores charge the customer for shopping bags and I have noticed that lots and lots of people bring their own bags to the store. I'm not sure if it is to save a little bit of money or if it is consciousness, but it is good to see!
5We've been using these types of bags for months, and it's amazing how many bags we've saved. We have about a ten minute walk to the grocery store, and also find that it's much easier to carry one or two of these bags than an awkward bundle of plastic ones.
To address Mike's comment about garbage bags, above: you can purchase biodegradable bags quite cheaply these days for use in garbage and even compost bins. They break down in a short period of time (a few weeks to 2 years usually) rather than the usual 500+ years that a normal bag will clog landfills. Check http://www.biobagusa.com
67-17-2007 @ 8:43AM
Sarah Miller said...
I've been using Envirosax bags for a few months now, and I *love* them. They're sturdy, big, and cute.
I have the original patterns, which are nice (especially the blue one with the red birds), but they've just released a "retro" set which I like even more.
http://www.delight.com/Envirosax-Delightfully-Pretty-Reusable-Grocery-Bags
7We've got four reusable bags from Trader Joe's (cheapest I could find) that are holding up wonderfully. Typically we only fill two of them on any given shopping trip, the rest get used for carting other things around (like produce picked up from our farm share, or random little things that need something to restrain them from rattling around the back of the car).
Thanks for the link to those biodegradable garbage liners! We actually "freecycled" our last box of garbage bags (boyfriend goes through college dorm areas right after the students move out, and saves some of their more useful waste) but when we need to replenish I'll go for the biobags.
8I keep the plastic bags right now because my grandmother reuses them for some of her more...odiferous medical waste. When she passes away I'll likely go to using reusable bags because I won't have any good way to recycle them (the recycling services in our area are, unfortunately, almost nonexistent).
9i use both-- i love my cloth/ plastic (non throwaway) bags to shop, however, i have 3 dogs and i have to clean up after them, and a very very small kitchen, and shopping bags hang well on the handle of the stove for a clutter free garbage bags.... that said, this web site has a great way to recycle the bags you may already have. http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2007/06/make_a_messenger_bag_out_1.html
10I use all three types of bags. The city I live in requires recycling go out in paperbags, so I get some for that. The dog requires plastic bags to clean up his mess, any extras go to the dog park for others to use. When I have enough of those, I use my reusable bags that I bought from a local grocery store.
11I've got a couple enormous denim bags from Hobby Lobby, I try to always keep on in the car and when they're filled up I usually just sling em over my shoulder as I'm walking out of the store. Plus, I get a 5 cent credit every time I use one in Meijers, and my bags by now have paid for themselves (yes, I'm in there a lot).
12Michael P, have you thought of adding a pair of rear panniers or baskets to your bike? Here's a relatively cheap option:
http://www.amazon.com/Wald-Folding-Basket-12-75-Black/dp/B000ABGJX6
I've found I can fit a canvas grocery bag in each, which ends up being a good amount of groceries, especially if you put a few extra things in a messenger bag or backpack.
I get paper bags when I forget my canvas reusable ones, but I have to admit it didn't occur to me to use the extra paper bas as garbage bags (we use Target bags for it, usually; we just ran out). Thanks for the tip.
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