Is anyone else out there tired of the plastic bag? I come home from the grocery store every week with about 10 of them and if this keeps up they will eventually take over my garage. Can you see the headline, “Young Mom Suffocates Under Pile of Plastic Grocery Bags!” I especially like the “Young” part…
Anyway, I do re-use some of them on occasion, to carry things other places and I really like the Target ones (oh, I forgot, I usually bring a few of those home every week too…) for lining my bathroom waste bins. One guy at my regular grocery store said they do recycle them and told me where it was out in front of the store, but when I looked in the bin I thought he was referring to, I only saw trash. Hmmmm… maybe no one else cares, but one of my resolutions was to be a little “greener” this year, so I need to figure out how to make this situation better. Here is an article on how bad the issue is getting.
I looked up re-usable grocery bags on-line and found a few resources. Join me if you will in trying to reduce the amount of plastic bags that come into our homes and eventually end up in landfills. I think I might get me a set or two of these bags to use every week instead of continuing to bring home so many plastic bags. I also like these, but am not ready to shell-out the “clams” for them, if you know what I mean! And, there is always the option of making your own, as seen in this “instructable.”
I know I will continue to get these darn bags at certain places (like I said, I like the Target ones!) but hopefully I can motivate myself and others to reduce some of the waste out there.
I bought my bags at the local grocery store for $1 each. No cute design but they hold so much more than the plastic bags. If you are looking for a pretty bag check out this site. http://www.howgreenisyourbag.com/
I’ve been thinking about this, too. I actually did see some reusable cloth-like bags at WalMart right at the checkout for $1 each. I reuse the plastic bags some as well, but lately I’m not using them as fast as I’m getting them and end up throwing a bunch away, which I feel badly about.
I just talked about this over the weekend with some girl friends. Several of them have already made the switch. One friend said there were some cute, good-sized ones online for cheap. I’ll have to ask her what the site was again. I use the plastic bags as liners in trash cans too, but not enough to use all of the bags we bring home.
Check your local grocery and favorite discount store! It’s the hot new impulse buy! Everyone is doing it: HEB, Target, and Half Price Books. Usually all you have to pay is about $1 per bag, except for the large Target tote ($1.49). The Target bags are nice because the smaller one zips up to checkbook-size, so that you can carry it in your purse/diaper bag; the larger one folds up to the size of a CD. One word of caution though: Watch how they are packed. We usually buy two gallons of milk at a time, and although the HEB bags can easily hold them and more, two gallons of milk in one bag is way too heavy to carry! Let me know if your grocery doesn’t carry their own, and I will procure you some HEB’s!
I’ve had my reusable bags for some time. The trick is you actually have to take them to the store with you. That’s my problem. I tend to forget them. So, my New’s Years resolution is that I’m actually going to bring my bags with me! Great post! And thanks for stopping by my blog.