How do you get all your groceries in those reusable bags.   I must have 10 bags when I go to the store.  I would really be a bag lady to carry in all reusable ones.

ChicoBags are great! They are super durable and clean looking and best of all you can pack them into their extremely small carrying case and toss 1 or 2 in your purse or more in your glove compartment so you'll always have one on hand!

And a major plus is that you can carry twice the weight of what you could carry in conventional bags- and they don't cut your arms when your dragging 6 bags of groceries up 3 flights of stairs! 

Hi there - love your post. Seems like the bags are the IT topic on the internet right now. I did a post on my blog The Urban Nutritionist http://www.lemonholistic.wordpress.com, as a follow up to an article in The Toronto Star yesterday. I find I love getting the bags, and love to use them, but I often forget them (kind of defeating the purpose, there!) So, I offered some tips on how to not forget - maybe leave one at all times in your car, or hang one by the door you exit the house out of the most often. Anyone else have any suggestions?

 

Yea, I was going to mention, how about keeping it in your trunk or back seat so you won't forget it.

 

I also never thought about this, I usually just reuse grocery plastic bags for my trash cans at home. I will give this a try though, I don't think anyone does this in my town... great way of staying chic even when shopping at supermarkets. hehe.  

Even though I try to stuff my backpack or panniers as full as possible before going to the store's bags, I need a good grocery run every couple months to replenish the dogpoopbag supply. But just the one extra life those bags get doesn't make me feel a whole lot better, since they end up nonphotodecomposing in the landfill anyway. Anybody have a better way of dealing with the doo? Other than having a yard.

I recently went to buy bags too and couldn't find anything I would willingly use. So I created my own and tried to make them fun. Check them out if you are interested.

http://www.cafepress.com/gilligan%20designs 

Chris

If you ever feel odd taking a reusable bag into a store (it's more unusual to bring them into retail outlets other than grocery stores), just remind yourself that it's a teaching moment for everyone around you, reminding them of sustainability issues.

I too felt odd bringing my own bags in but soon got over that when my drawer at home was overflowing AGAIN with plastic bags. But what I'm finding is the baggers are a bit perplexed as to how to load the reusable bags. I bring a couple different kinds and they don't seem to know how to fill them. Especially at the Commissary, stumps them every time. Which I don't understand because they have a sign at every checkstand asking you to cut down on using plastic bags because of the high cost of oil to produce them. I find that I have to instruct the baggers to fill up the reusable bag instead of just putting say the frozen goods in one and the produce in another. Not sure how to correct this except keep on instructing them. Anyone else run across this?

Don't forget to forgo the plastic bags in the grocery store to put your produce in as well.  It's an old habit, but I am trying to do it.  I always feel better when the produce doesn't touch the cart.

I haven't personally experienced it yet, but I'm sure that if I start taking my own bags the baggers won't know what to do, since this is so uncommon especially where I live at.

 But if we all start doing it, we can get more people exposed to this and I'm sure baggers will become more familiarized with this new method of bagging. I think it'll even be more effective for their job, they'll be able to bag items faster. One of my first jobs was working as a cashier, and let me tell you sometimes it's really hard to separate those darn plastic bags.

 

I already have a few bags that I have stored in my closet, I think they'll be perfect.  

 

A few years ago I bought several canvas bags from Hobby Lobby.  These bags are roughly the size and shape of paper grocery bags, with handles. Pleats create a flat bottom, so no tipping over in the car.  I've never had anything crushed (unless a careless bagger places my gallon of organic milk on top of my organic tomatoes!). They hold a huge amount -- 6 bags holds a week's worth of goods for this family of 6!

To make them more "aesthetically pleasing", I painted on the sides.  I am told the store employees now know me as the "Painted Bag Lady". 

 

When I lived in Russia back in the early 90s, I learned a lifestyle  that is traditional with Europeans. Using mass transit, climbing stairs and walking was not something one had to go to a fitness club to do... it was part of daily life. I shopped regularly, but it required trips to the bakery, the butcher shop and my favorite, the farmer's market. You could purchase heavy plastic bags for carrying your food from  the market, but they were reusable, just as the glass jars that canned fruits and vegetables came in. (You could buy plastic lids at the kitchen store that fit the standard size opening of the jars and that became my storage containers.) I carried my net and plastic shopping bags in my shoulder bag, along with tissues, wet wipes, ziplock bags, etc. It's kind of like going from full service to self service gasoline...takes a few times to get used to, but it will become automatic with time.

I must add that, due to limited storage space and small refrigerators, plus most of the food being without preservatives and perishable, shopping was generally done frequently. I bought what I could carry in my two hands, or I used my luggage carrier w/ wheels.  

 

When I let go of what I am,

I become what I might be.

~Lao Tzu

GOING GREEN IS JUST ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY FOR A MILENIAL

GYPSY TO TAKE YOUR MONEY

MAKE YOUR OWN BAG OUT OF OLD CLOTHES

PUT A RUBBER BAND ON EACH SLEVE AND ONE ON THE NECK AND CARRY YOUR FOOD HOME THAT WAY

BETTER YET USE SOMETHING THAT YOU ARE AFRAID TO CLEAN OUT THAT SITS IN YOUR HOUSE UNUSED

BEING GREEN IS BEING BRILIANT

NOT TRENDY

I wonder, where does all that unused fabric go..... To the land fill not anymore we are using recycled heavy fabric to make Green Eco-Friendly Tote Bags. Check it out goto www.greenglobalhealth.com click on cleaning and then cleaning accesories..