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Betsy
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What are the pros & cons to using reusable grocery bags?
When they became en vogue I was not in a season of my life to give it a thought. I am in a position now that I can at least think about it. 
Right now I am just sick of throwing out all of the paper bags we get each week. We don't reuse the brown paper bags in anyway at home unlike plastic bags that I at least reuse once or twice.
::If you use them where did you get them?
::If you made them (which I can with all of the fabric that I currently own) what pattern did you use?
::What is a perfect size?
::If you have used them before and abandoned the idea, why?
::Any additional comments?????
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JodieLyn
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I love using them at the store with the less well made plastic bags.. but I do not use them at the store with the good plastic bags.. those bags I save and use for the small trash cans in the house.
I got mine at Safeway and I love the ones they have that are half red and half green.. they're slightly larger/more square than the pink ones.
They work great as long as you have a system to remember them. What I do is always take them back out to the car after we unload the groceries.. they sit in the space between the front seats right where my purse would set on top of them so that when I grab my purse to go into the store the bags are right there too.
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Grace&Chaos
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I have a spot near our garage door with one nice size oil cloth tote bag (I like this one for the meats or cold things) that holds about 10 reusable bags that we've collected from the different stores we shop at like Trader Joes, Vons, Target(I like this one it is a nice big square size bottom rather than rectangular like the others, great for my cereal boxes). I also bought the reusuable bags at Costco, since we do our bulk shopping there. I much prefer using them than just putting my stuff scattered in the car or the non handle boxes they offer sometimes.
I just grab the tote and take with me. We get home, put away groceries, the bags get folded, placed back in the tote and put in the garage. It's become routine for me to do this, but I can't get dh to take them with him when he grocery shops 
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Grace&Chaos
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Forgot to mention that we also bought some at our library and this has worked out nicer too. Theirs is a nice square bottom so the books sit better than the totes I used before  .
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SarahCD
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I use reusable bags, too. I have picked them up here and there. Many stores sell them for $1 or so ... Like Jenny, I just keep them all in my largest size bag, and I grab them all when I'm off to the grocery store. I have a variety of sizes—some large and some small. I think that a variety of sizes is helpful when going on your big shopping trips. The store I shop at gives me 5 cents per bag that I use during my visits. It's not much, but in these times, every little bit helps, right?! I also use them for returns that I have to make as well as trips to the library.
Occasionally, I still go to the store without my bags, just so I can keep a stash of paper and plastic bags on hand. We do reuse the paper bags for recycling and the plastic for little trash cans.
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hylabrook1
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Starting January 1, 2012 the grocery stores in my county are going to charge 5 cents for each disposable bag you get from them. I guess you would have to have a huge order for the *bag tax* to really affect your budget, but it certainly is a statement that using disposable plastic bags is frowned upon. Personally, I find that the reusable bags have nice square bottoms that are less likely to topple over and spill things all over the place. They also hold more than plastic disposables and also more than the few square-bottomed paper bags you can find - they don't break when you put a bunch of stuff in them.
Peace,
Nancy
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Betsy
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| Posted: Oct 31 2011 at 5:49pm | IP Logged
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WOW Nancy, the whole county is charging for bags???? Crazy! If they double bag do you get charged 10 cents?
I have read with interest the designs that ya'll like most. Has anyone ever sewn their own? I would love to hear opinions from the talented ladies here, but until them I will be googling good patterns.
However, I might end up just buying a bunch from one store and calling it good.... 
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JennGM
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I have been accumulating bags, but I find that I either
a) forget them in the car
b) someone took them out of the car
c) if I bring them in, they take too much space in my cart, and then they are trapped under the groceries.
Great intentions...
My bags are all different, from all sorts of stores, from my church, etc. I have only bought a few out of necessity (like a health food store no longer offers any plastic or brown bags, even for sale). Buying is against my principle, plus the irony that most of them aren't even green.
My favorite is an oilcloth bag, and the ones with flat square wide bottoms that have reinforcement. The book I mentioned in this thread has a nice pattern, and I've found quite a few online.
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mom2mpr
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I use reusable also. I have them in the car most of the time--put them there after unloading groceries. For most shopping I use the ones they sell at grocery stores for about $1.
I actually buy them when traveling as souveniers! I have some from FL, Mass., Maine, etc. A bagger at our neighborhood store gave me a hard time once when he noticed I had their competitors bag. I told him to keep packing groceries as I have them from all over--it was fun!
I wash them, on gentle, every once in awhile. I enjoy them because I think they pack better and are easier to handle than the plastic ones. And one store gives me 5 cents for each one I use.
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Betsy
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| Posted: Oct 31 2011 at 8:53pm | IP Logged
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Jen that is an interesting article from NPR. I am so not surprised that reusable bags don't really do that much good. Which is probably why I haven't really worried about it until now.
I truly think that one of the reason that I want to use them is I am tired of paper bags being filled only half full so they don't break. It takes up so much room in the back of my car when I am trying to get the groceries home. If I had really durable bags I could probably use 1/3 less bags/space than paper bags.
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guitarnan
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Thoughts from my years of living in Europe:
In most European countries, you're expected to bring your own bags (plastic, cloth or whatever) or pay 5 to 10 cents per plastic bag from the grocery store. (You have to bag your own items, too.) The net effect of this is scrupulous re-use of every plastic bag, to the point where people are double-bagging plastic bags so that all the holes are covered by the second bag. It really does work.
I lived with that system and did okay; I was fine with paying for plastic if I forgot my used bags/cloth bags.
Here, it's a bit more complex. I have a huge collection of reusable bags, some from IKEA (one of the few places that sells reusable bags not made in China) and a few we've received as freebies from various stores/organizations. I seldom remember to bring them along...but this is partly due to the fact that we reuse every single paper bag we receive, mainly to hold recyclables until we can get them into our bins. I also use them for co-op craft projects (latest: Mayan codices!). If we had no paper bags, our recycling system would need to change drastically. I would end up paying for 4-5 per week, then using reusable shopping bags for all other shopping trips.
I know the idea of paying for plastic grocery bags seems weird in the USA, but people in Europe have been doing this for years and years and somehow their groceries make it home okay. Most of my friends there use cloth tote bags, not the bags we see for sale in our grocery stores here (many of which are flimsy, made in China, sometimes of paper fibers...which is why I went to IKEA looking for something better).
I do use my IKEA bags for library books, too - they work great!
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Erin
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We pay for plastic bags here in Australia at Target, nationwide decision. 10c a bag.
I like cloth bags just have to remember to use them. I find the too small ones pretty useless, I like the medium size for most things and the big ones for towels etc at swimtime.
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St. Ann
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guitarnan wrote:
Thoughts from my years of living in Europe:
In most European countries, you're expected to bring your own bags (plastic, cloth or whatever) or pay 5 to 10 cents per plastic bag from the grocery store. (You have to bag your own items, too.) The net effect of this is scrupulous re-use of every plastic bag, to the point where people are double-bagging plastic bags so that all the holes are covered by the second bag. It really does work.
I lived with that system and did okay; I was fine with paying for plastic if I forgot my used bags/cloth bags.
I know the idea of paying for plastic grocery bags seems weird in the USA, but people in Europe have been doing this for years and years and somehow their groceries make it home okay. |
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Nancy, today you can pay more for the plastic bags!
I keep two plastic collapsible boxes and a freezer bag in the car for larger amounts. Especially at Aldi, you have to move so fast, that I(almost everyone) just pile all the groceries back in the cart and then, once at the car I distribute the groceries in the different containers. This is a better solution for our family. It is easier and safer to carry the boxes from car to our house than lots of plastic bags.
In America I had the large costco bags, which are great for lots of light weighted products, but not for heavy things.
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Claire F
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I usually use reusable bags. I bought some at my local grocery store quite a few years ago now. They were very inexpensive and surprisingly, they've held up well. My biggest reason for using them, if I'm honest, is that they hold a lot of stuff and it makes bringing the groceries inside a lot easier.
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Mimip
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We were using the cloth bags too but went back to getting plastic because I use them for the dog clean up bags 
The major problem I have with the reusable bags is that we have bag boys here and they don't know how to fill them! I have had to stop MANY baggers from loading them up with way too much or smushing everything in! Here you get the 5 cent credit too so I think they avoid using too many bags!
Jenn, I had the where to put them problem too so I just started putting them under my cart until I need the bottom section of my cart and then I just stack them down there.
I love the IKEA bags and use them for so much!
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Carole N.
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We also have reusable bags. I have the string bags that I purchased years ago as well as burlap bags that I bought at my local grocery store. Since October 1st, the Welsh government requires all stores to charge for bags. So if you go shopping to the grocery store or Marks and Spencer, you will pay a fee for the bags. The fee is donated to conservation groups of the store's choice.
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Betsy
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Mimip wrote:
The major problem I have with the reusable bags is that we have bag boys here and they don't know how to fill them! I have had to stop MANY baggers from loading them up with way too much or smushing everything in! Here you get the 5 cent credit too so I think they avoid using too many bags!
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I can see how this can be a problem! I am wondering if the design of the bag that one would use would help?
I love the IKEA big blue bags, we take these to the beach all the time. But I do think that they would get way over stuffed if I used them for groceries or it would be impossible for me to lift them (I can't lift very heavy things tough because of a chronic problem).
Searching online for "best reusable bags" I have come across a few designs. The price for some of these is really $$$$$$ which seems to defeat the purpose. I am mostly just looking at what designs work best. What do ya'll think about some of these designs.....basically either a plastic bag design or a brown paper bag designs!
BAGGU
ITYSE
Burban Bags
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Grace&Chaos
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Betsy wrote:
Searching online for "best reusable bags" I have come across a few designs. The price for some of these is really $$$$$$ which seems to defeat the purpose. I am mostly just looking at what designs work best. What do ya'll think about some of these designs.....basically either a plastic bag design or a brown paper bag designs!
BAGGU
ITYSE
Burban Bags
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I have one like the first site. It is pretty durable, but I like this style only for odd shaped and sensitive things like fruit/veggies. I wouldn't cram much into them. Besides my large oilcloth tote the rest of my bags look like your last choice. These are a lot easier for me to carry and I think they can hold more. The boxed items fit better too because unlike the plastic bags it doesn't force the whole bag to close when you grab the handles. Hope that made sense. 
For Christmas last year my kids gave their youngest aunts the plastic bag type. We found a vendor at our Holiday boutique that carried some that fold into a pouch (kind of like the BiTySe). They both ride their bikes to places so we thought this would be just perfect for hanging from their handles or fit easy into their pockets. Very compact and light for when your on a quick run.
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JennGM
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Mimip wrote:
Jenn, I had the where to put them problem too so I just started putting them under my cart until I need the bottom section of my cart and then I just stack them down there.
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Of course! Why didn't I think of that?
I was looking at my assortment of bags. Here's my complaint -- they are bulky. I love having reinforced bottoms, but that means they don't fold up. Nothing is the same size, nor fold up the same. It takes up a lot of room in my car.
I also have some insulated bags that are very handy when I go further for groceries -- keeps things very cold. But again, they don't "downsize" well at all.
Stephanie, I like the idea of foldable boxes. That would be much neater in the car and unloading.
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JennGM
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Can I veer the discussion a bit and talk about veggie and fruit bags?
This is a big problem area for me. If I solve the problem of what to put veggies in while shopping, what about in the refrigerator?
Some of my veggies need to be wrapped up when in the fridge. Do you use towels?
Looking for help. If I should start a new thread, I'll be happy to.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: Reusable Grocery Bags: Discussion
