Re-Useable Shopping Bags

[smurfalicious]

I have three from Safeway that I got on my first ever shopping trip in Boulder. It felt like the thing to do. I love the Safeway ones because they're tall, but the handles are a little too long to comfortably carry at my sides. I usually end up with a collection of them at work because we have a kitchen and I bring my groceries in weekly.

At the pet store we have biodegradable bags made of corn. They suck because they're really weak, but it's Boulder so we rarely use them.

I want that green "my bag makes me better than you." That, is sooo Boulder!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I have about 17 or so of them (bought for 99 cents each, a few at a time as I needed more).
I keep 12 in the car for the big supermarket trips. Used to forget to bring them in at first, but now I'm used to it and never forget anymore.

I have I think 3 in the hall closet, use them for overnights or for bringing potluck dishes to events, or for transporting a plant, etc.

Then I keep two more in my Rivendell's panniers for errands and shopping. The panniers stayed secured on the bike (they fold up flat against the bike when it's locked up) and I just take the shopping bags in with me:


My daughters borrowed a couple and got hooked on them and I got them each a few too.

I use them over and over and over.....

[Zen]

I've got loads of them and when I forget to take them in the store i just get bags out of the big recycle bin in front of the store.

I also have one of these.

[msincredible]

I have a few, sometimes I forget them but I love using them.

[ZenSojourner]

I have about 17 or so of them (bought for 99 cents each, a few at a time as I needed more).

Where do you get them for 99c? Every time I see them for sale, they're $7 or $8

[cylegoddess]

I have heaps, but sadly as I get my groceries delivered( no car, and no panniers big enough on bike) I keep getting more of those recyclable but annoying starch plastic bags. GRRR.
I found that the recycle bags tend to break when you fill them with more than 30 apples ( I live on apples!)
When I buy veggies and stuff, I only use them for loose beans etc also, I mean their dirty to begin with, more dirt isnt going to hurt. I just pile them on the belt.
I never worry about what check out people think - Ive been one of them , They are usually thinking,please get me out of here , my arms and feet are KILLING me.

[Ana]

I do not own a car and thus, usually make many trips to the co-op per week on my bike and then use my panniers

I do have many grocery bags to use for garbage bags and paper recycling. I use them when I catch a ride to the store with someone or go to the store when my parents are in town

[7rider]

I think it's silly to buy bags that are made in and shipped from China and call it "green." That's like buying a brand new hybrid car with a battery with a finite lifecycle and no recycleability, when you have a perfectly functonal car in the driveway, and calling that "green." The only "green" is the money given to retailers.
However, I do have a stash of bags that I have been given at various events and seminars that I will re-use for shopping. I also have a large stash of plastic grocery bags (my DH is horrible about bringing them to the store whenever he goes) in the broom closet. Those also get used and re-used.

[OakLeaf]

Yeah I suppose I could make or get some reusable cloth produce bags from natural fibers. But it's not just that beans and grains and nuts and cereal need to be contained. Greens and herbs would get completely torn up, never mind getting all my other purchases (and the bags themselves) soaking wet. Small soft fruits like tomatoes, pears, or plums would migrate to the nooks and crannies and get completely crushed between heavier items. And if I have multiple of the same item (four small zucchini, let's say), then putting them in a bag for weighing means I don't have to fish them individually out of the bottom of my cart somewhere, which takes a whole lot more time in line than saying good morning to the cashier.

As far as the self-checkout, of the four grocery stores I use, only one has self-checkout, and sure I do prefer it, but so does everyone else, so the lines are really long. Two of the stores are small and locally owned (and there's rarely any line for me to hold up), so it's a simple matter of courtesy and human interaction to chat with the owners and employees while they're ringing me out.

Y'know, as far as the overall environmental choices, obviously we shouldn't be shopping in grocery stores at all. This is more like the kind of thing that everyone was coming down on IvonaDestroi so hard about. We all have to make the choices we're able to make, and ignore the rest for our mental survival. Shopping in grocery stores before the farmer's market season begins and, when it's fourteen hilly miles, driving there in my hybrid car, are two of my choices. Owning a carbon fiber road bike made in Asia is another one of them. And if I buy yet another bike that's capable of carrying more groceries rather than an expensive and jerry-rigged conversion of my race bike into a commuter, well, that's another less than ideal choice. So sue me.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Where do you get them for 99c? Every time I see them for sale, they're $7 or $8

At the supermarket- they are "Price Chopper" brand, 99 cents each. They've been selling them for a couple years now.
I also see them at another supermarket chain, Hannaford's, for 99 cents as well.

I think it's silly to buy bags that are made in and shipped from China and call it "green." That's like buying a brand new hybrid car with a battery with a finite lifecycle and no recycleability, when you have a perfectly functonal car in the driveway, and calling that "green." The only "green" is the money given to retailers.

I think the key aspect here is that you can use each of these bags hundreds of times. Mine have held up very impressively. If I use 10 bags a week while shopping or hauling stuff, then over each year my 17 or so bags prevent more than 500 plastic bags from being manufactured. For me, that trumps the fact that they are made in China. Unfortunately, the usual plastic supermarket bags don't hold up well after a few uses carrying any significant load.

You can buy bags that are made in the USA from recycled cotton, etc, but they are just too expensive still...when they first came out, such bags cost like $12 each and seemed more like 'designer' totes, but I do notice the prices on US made re-usable shopping bags are now steadily dropping as the retailers and manufacturers get a bit more 'real' and I am confident that they will eventually be priced reasonably and made here from all recycled stuff. Once they hit somewhere around $5 each I'll be buying those instead.
Meanwhile, I feel I'm still helping to prevent excessive plastic production. All of mine are two years old so far, have been used probably 100 times each over the past two years, and they are still going strong. Personally, I like that!

[badgercat]

I think it's silly to buy bags that are made in and shipped from China and call it "green." That's like buying a brand new hybrid car with a battery with a finite lifecycle and no recycleability, when you have a perfectly functonal car in the driveway, and calling that "green." The only "green" is the money given to retailers.
However, I do have a stash of bags that I have been given at various events and seminars that I will re-use for shopping. I also have a large stash of plastic grocery bags (my DH is horrible about bringing them to the store whenever he goes) in the broom closet. Those also get used and re-used.

So if someone doesn't have a handy stash of sturdy bags for reuse, as you are lucky to have.... I used to reuse paper grocery bags, but they would inevitably wear out. Similar to BleeckerSt_Girl, I've gotten dozens of uses out of each of the grocery totes that I've purchased (2) or been given as a gift (2), which have been invaluable when going to/from stores on the bus, and they also fit nicely in the rear baskets on my bike. Sure, I probably could have taken the effort to shop around and find bags at a thrift store instead, but the ones I bought were $0.99 and purchased when I was already at the store. I'm of the opinion that a small step in the right direction is better than not considering it at all.

[GLC1968]

I think it's silly to buy bags that are made in and shipped from China and call it "green." That's like buying a brand new hybrid car with a battery with a finite lifecycle and no recycleability, when you have a perfectly functonal car in the driveway, and calling that "green." The only "green" is the money given to retailers.

Indeed. It's about as 'green' as buying a brand new bike and saying that you are saving the environement by riding to work every once in awhile. That's not the point.

Buying cloth bags is always a better choice than using the plastic ones. Honestly, mine have been used literally hundreds of times since I bought them a little over a year ago. They also still look brand new, so I see no reason why they won't get to thousands of uses. Are they made in China? Yes. Are they made by a company that follows fair trade practices? Yes. Did I reasearch all this prior to buying them? No, I didn't and perhaps I should have. I picked these bags specifically because of the size. Could I carry a big honkin' purse to allow me to put huge tote bags in it so that I was never without a bag? Well sure, but that seems stupid to me, too. And honestly, it's great that you are reusing free totes from conferences and stuff...but where do you think those were made? USA? Not likely.

My point is that every effort we make is worthwhile. Are we perfect? No. Are we improving, yes...and that's the point. There is no reason to get sactimonious about where reusable shopping bags are coming from when most of us live in a homes powered by grid electricity, use public sewer systems, eat food that wasn't grown in our own backyard by sustainable methods and drive cars powered by foriegn oil. We can't change the world in a day, but we can make better choices about how we live our lives. Preaching to others who are at least making the effort is not helping anyone.

[PamNY]

At the pet store we have biodegradable bags made of corn. They suck because they're really weak, but it's Boulder so we rarely use them.

??? Dogs don't poop in Boulder?

I've been using fabric bags (or more likely my backpack) for shopping for years. The idea that this is all new is somewhat comical. I don't use a car, so that changes the equation; I don't always have a bag with me, though I usually do.

The only advantage to the bags sold specifically as replacements for the standard plastic bag is that they are great for hanging on my Xootr. Paper or plastic bags get banged up and more than once I've lost a lemon or two. If I have a really heavy load, I use a backpack because I can hang it with the bag facing me. Putting weight forward makes the scooter unbalanced when I hop off. Messes up my perfect curb jump, and the rear wheel could swing around and bang someone in the ankle.

ETA: If you don't want to buy a new reusable bag, thrift shops usually have plenty of the bags given away at conferences, etc.

Pam

[smurfalicious]

??? Dogs don't poop in Boulder?

They do, but those warrant a different kind of biodegradable bag that's on a small roll and has a handy clip on dispenser.

[msincredible]

I find the baggers at Safeway at the worst...on more than one occasion (when I forgot my own bags) I have ended up with more bags than items purchased.

A former boyfriend (from the UK) would always put his bananas inside a produce bag...I never understood why.