Though I do consider myself a green consumer, until now when queried about my preference for “paper or plastic”, I have picked one.
It’s not that I haven’t been aware of reusable bags. I have a trusty cloth bag I picked up in Europe that religiously tote to the Farmer’s Market each week. I carry multiple cloth bags emblazoned with cosmetic company names, that I received as GWP’s (gifts with purchase) on errands. I reuse plastic grocery bags as garbage bags for my car. But until now, I’ve allowed my groceries to be loaded into yet another bag or set of bags each week. No more.
Why have I not joined the green revolution? I didn’t like the bags. Unlike the small plastic bags I string over my arms in rows or the nice tall paper brown bags with sturdy handles, reusable bags that I have found are uniformly too small, too unformed or too heavy.
During a recent shopping trip to Trader Joe’s though, I found the perfect bags. And perfection for a dollar is hard to find.
I’m sold now. I’ve joined the green revolution and when asked, “paper or plastic” I say, “neither” and hand over my reusable bags.
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14 comments:
You will *love* the bags! They hold so much more than the plastic bags, so you'll be making fewer trips to unload the car. :-)
It's cute!
P.S. I love the name of your blog!
These are a great idea. My friend has a funny story of showing up at Walmart with her cloth bags and completely confusing (and annoying) the checkout girl.
I guess they don't get a lot of environmentally conscious shoppers at Walmart.
I love the TJ bags, and I will agree with mom unplugged - it's not just Walmart - bringing a reusable bag to my local national chain grocery store gets them all in a flumix (sp?.
Walmart and Target have those plastic bag-holder things for the cashiers to fill with your stuff, so I bet using cloth bags would stump them!
We use cloth bags that we bought at several natural food co-ops, made from thick canvas. They hold a lot (sometimes too much and then the bag's too heavy!) and are pretty comfortable on the hands. But we do sometimes get paper bags to hold recycling, and plastic bags to hold dirty cat litter. I can justify it to myself because we are re-using them instead of just throwing them away.
If you go through the self-checkout at Wal-mart, you can pack your own reusable bag, no fuss.
Only once have I had anyone act flumoxed by my reusable bags, and I live in an area where NO ONE else does this.
I also took the pledge - no more plastic bags. BTW - I did go into plastic bag withdrawl for awhile. Where will I put the cat poo - what do I put in the bathroom trash bin??? I use my newspapers to lay out, scoop the poo and then fold it nicely and toss - easy peasy. I bought corn starch bags for the bathroom!
I got my reusable bags from Greensak - the most perfect shape and size, they even have these little loops that work on the plastic bags holdy thingys. My fav part - they do not stain and bacteria resistant. I saw this gal at the check out a couple years ago with terribly stained bags and I was a bit put off.
Any way - easy peasy!
Just remember, those TJ bags are still made with PLASTIC. Yes, it's good that you're reusing them, and therefore using less plastic, however, you are using a bag that will NEVER biodegrade! I sell organic, fairtrade, attractive bags with sayings about sustainability - and when you finally stop using them, they will biodegrade naturally into the earth leaving no toxins behind. Also, I sell bio-plastic trash bags - that will also biodegrade - as well as cat box liners, and dog poop bags. check out my site at SustainableBags.NET
thanks for posting this, I've been in search of the perfect reusable bag! I too, have been wanting to go green and not use those crummy plastic ones, but I'm just NOW getting around to doing it!!
I shop at TJ's here in Tucson and it good that they are trying to reduce plastic, but I think it's for their bottom line. From my understanding retailer's like TJ's and there are lot's or them are selling their reusable plastic bags at their cost. But it's still plastic and breaks easily and goes to the landfill.
Organic materials such as cotton and hemp (I don't know of hemp not being organic) are the best choices for being more sustainable.
I have reusable shopping bags that I brought locally from a local artist that can have you own quote done in calligraphy then transfered or silk screened. I get compliments on some of the bags from the checkers and sacker's like "that's a cool bag".
Hope everyone starts to reject any bag that isn't organic.
Sustainable Bags in Tucson has some great reusable bags.
What is everybody's thought on which bags are better. The reusable bags that are biodegradable or the bags that are not biodegradable. Are the biodegradable bags weaker and do they break down quicker due to them being organic and then requiring you to buy more? I am thinking of trying to switch over the time share people to reusable bags. thanks for any input.
It's nice that you want to "help" the enviornment, but if convenience is your bottom line: buying a plastic bag to replace a plastic bag - although you are using fewer plastic bags you are STILL damaging the environment. Polypropylene is PLASTIC: it NEVER biodegrades, and as far as recycling, so few are recycled, and the cost is so great that they are often thrown in landfills instead of being "recycled"! Don't be fooled. Unless people are willing to put up with a change - and to me this is insignificant, we're not going to be helping improve the environment - only helping yourself to think that you're doing something positive. Please educate yourselves about the real solution. It is NOT using a plastic reusable bag - it's using an ORGANIC fairtrade bag, and putting up with something that might not stand up straight in your car - those lightweight plastic bags that you were using didn't!
It's nice that you want to "help" the enviornment, but if convenience is your bottom line e.g. buying a plastic bag to replace a plastic bag - although you are using fewer plastic bags you are STILL damaging the environment. Polypropylene is PLASTIC: it NEVER biodegrades, and as far as recycling, so few are recycled, and the cost is so great that they are often thrown in landfills instead of being "recycled"! Don't be fooled. Unless people are willing to put up with a change - and to me making this small change is insignificant, we're not going to be helping improve the environment - only helping yourself to think that you're doing something positive. Please educate yourselves about the real solutions. It is NOT using a plastic reusable bag - it's using an ORGANIC fairtrade bag, and putting up with something that might not stand up straight in your car - those lightweight plastic bags that you were using didn't!
SustainableBags.NET
My friend has a new startup business named Saxsystuff and I have a set of her reusable grocery bags. I love them!! I hated having the store logos on my bags because I felt weird going into other stores with them...but now I have these colorful fun bags that fold up in my purse. I use mine for everything. I take my lunch to work in them. Send my kids extra boots to school with them, and lug my groceries in them. I highly recommend using reusable bags. BTW, did you heard about the great plastic vortex? Even more reason to not use plastic!
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