Community Chat

[Mz iMac]

@Jaspersmom"I live in the strongest union state in the nation and we have banned plastic in my county.  I don't know what one has to do with the other."

The manufactures of the plastic & brown bags w/the store logos on them are unionized.

[sashamatthews]

I buy the Beekman goat totes - not washable but they hold up very well with heavier items.

[Cakers3]

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@ROMARY wrote:

I use good, old-fashioned paper bags.

Recycle them when they begin to look tattered.

I'm only guessing that I'm saving energy (electric) and water by not washing reusable bags each time or two that I shop.

Just my opinion, though.

I feel the same way re: kitchen and household towels.

I use paper towels (cut in half or thirds) instead of washing and drying towels.

Keep in mind that my washer and dryer are in the basement, and too many stairs to fuss with. 

Safer to use paper.

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@ROMARY   The paper bags are great.  You made some good points about using more water to wash the other type bags.

Also some of the contamination we read about isn't always about the produce itself; sometimes contamination of  new groceries happens because the canvas bags are not properly washed or wiped down from prior use.

We use both.

[chrystaltree]

I have a bunch of the canvas totes.  Our state banned those single use plastic bags so the stores use paper now and most sell the canvas totes.  I do throw them in the wash periodically and I keep them folded up in the kitchen and I keep one in my tote bag.  However, I do most of my grocery shopping online with Peapod or Prime Now.  

[Just4Me]

DO NOT forget to wash these "convenient" bags.  People are actually getting sick from not washing them.  You put food in them and then put your hands into these bags where bacteria has been allowed to blossom in the wet and dark.  

[Just4Me]

They are now "outlawing" plastic bags and before you know it they will outlaw paper bags to save the trees we were supposed to saving years ago (hence plastic bags way back when).  So buy your cloth bags before then. LOL 

[Just4Me]

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@CelticCrafter wrote:

As soon as I empty ours, I put them at the front door so we see them when we are going out again and can put them back in the car.

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This is exactly what I was talking about.  Emptying out and not washing your bags to make sure you stay safe and healthy.  There are so many steps to this "save the planet".

[gidgetgh]

I shop at Publix and I don’t think they’ve offered paper bags in quite some time. And my guess is that they’ll be getting rid of plastic.

I don’t like taking my own reusable bags in because I have a variety, all shapes, sizes and materials, gotten at several different places  and they’re clumsy to handle because they’re all different. 

Based on this thread, I just went through the supply I keep in the car, 

purged a good bit of them, am donating some Vera Bradley market totes to Goodwill, and ordered some natural, canvas, machine washable totes from Amazon.  They’ll all be the same thing and it will make it easier for me to take them into the store. 

[SilleeMee]

I have some nylon shopping bags (brand is BAGGU,  top-rated) that are made of the same thing parachutes are made of and they are very sturdy. There is a huge selection of printed BAGGU bags on Amazon...really super cute! The shape of the bags is almost identical to those regular plastic ones they give you at check-out. The cashiers always ask me about my bags because for them my bags are easy to load. The cashiers say that some of those reusable bags are a hassle to load and they hinder loading them. But not mine because mine are shaped just like those plastic ones and they fit on the cashier's loading station hooks. My bags are bright fluorescent green...everyone loves them!

[lovesrecess]

For a short time, our area required using bags you brought from home or they charged a nickel per plastic bag. I started bringing bags from home but when they lifted the ban I sort of forgot about it; now that I see how convenient my own are I am trying to remember to take them into the store.
The huge ones at HomeGoods are great and just 99cents...but don’t work for groceries....I use them for lots of other things though.