Grocery stores charge 10 cents per plastic bag where I live, so we bring our own bags. Not easy to minimize plastic bags though, so convenient, but they take 1000 years to dissolve.
My city requires we bring our own bags now (paper bags are available for a minimum of $0.10 each if you forget) so I've been pretty good about having mine on hand.
I reuse the plastic bags all the time; I also reuse paper bags when I get them. I don't forget reusable ones in my car--they're in my house. With things in them.
Bring 'em, for my regular Sunday 6 a.m. shop at Shop Rite. If I'm just running in during the week, or if I walk the three blocks to the Acme and don't have my car, then probably not.
Plastic bags all get reused for cat poop and coffee grinds. If you tried carrying your own bags into a store in Texas they would probably suspect you were shoplifting and call the police. Except in Austin, the California of Texas.
I do both. I use plastic shopping bags while I'm cooking to put discards and stinky things in so I can take them right to the garbage chute, and as bathroom garbage can bags. I use paper shopping bags as recycling bags since they themselves can be recycled. Whenever I have a major supply of both, I make sure to use cloth bags.
I do half and half. I tend to remember my bags for groceries, but I usually forget them on a Walmart run. If I only have a few things, though, I will just carry them out without a bag. Sometimes, if I do forget the bags on a grocery trip, I will just have the checker put them back in my cart unbagged. I will just throw them in the trunk and use a laundry basket to bring them in.
If your car is in the parking lot, didn't you technically bring the bags to the grocery store? (Although, I did remember to take my insulated basket into Trader Joe's yesterday. Go me!)
Although, we do love those Target plastic bags at my house. much thicker than the Wal-Mart/grocery store ones. Great for trashcan liners and cleaning out Drusilla's litterbox (why, yes, my other cat was named Spike.)
Dragon, I'm with you. We get plastic bags too, which makes us so much more horrible. Granted, scoops of cat shit and litter are later placed in some of those bags. Some are used again for the bathroom trash can. Others are used when scooping massive piles of dogshit in our backyard. Still, my carbon footprint is probably embarrassingly large.
Here in Toronto nearly all grocery and drug stores charge for plastic bags now. I've carried my own reusable ones for years. I hate that the stores sell them to you, but when you bring them back to shop with, the cashiers (especially at Walmart) look like they want to kill you because you want to use them. I end up packing them myself every time because I feel guilty that I'm interfering with their trained method of dropping every item into a separate, gray, rips if you put more than 2 items in it, plastic bag.
FSP agree this was done a few weeks ago! I am still getting used to the no plastic thing here in Austin. I think I've spent $20 on bags in the lst month because I keep forgetting them. I have also gone through my supply of old bags that I used to use as trash bags in the house.
I always forget mine too! And so I have like 50 now because I keep buying them. Pisses Hubby off. But I reuse them for like going to the park and keeping my daughter's change of clothes and diapers in there.
I have been carrying my own bags for about 4 years now. I ride mass trans, and it makes getting everything home safely much easier. Thank you Ikea, for making a huge cloth bag that serves no other purpose than lugging a week's worth of food home. I love it.
I use the bags available at the big chain stores. I also reuse all of them. I have several canvas bags that I use at ALDI. I occasionally bring my own cart for larger items.
No plastic bags for me. Actually my city banned then years ago. I thought most SoCal cities have. For pet waste I use corn based biodegradable plastic bags.
I keep buying a bunch of the reusable grocery bags, and I keep forgetting them at home. Everytime I go wholefoods and traders, I just buy more. Now I have a million...and I still keep forgetting to bring them with me.
Yup I'll repeat anyway. Been using cloth bags for a while now. Have them hanging by the door and 2 back ups for brain farts in the car. Forgot all of them yesterday and just carried the items since they no longer have bags at the Safeway. I made it to the register I can certainly make it to the car.
Leave them in the trunk. And on the back door hook where I specifically put them so I don't forget. And then I forget. I have yet to take a bag to the grocery store. ;(
I've been using the canvas bags for years. The first couple of weeks I had them I'd forget to put them in the car. Now it's "programmed" into my brain that I need to grab them before I go shopping.
Oh, and those thinking they are saving the Earth by using corn biodegradable ones? What about the poor starving children in 3rd world countries you are depriving of cheap food? Your selfishness is killing them. And for those enamored of Ethanol, poor Americans just trying to get to work thank you for screwing them over too.
I'm in Edmonton, Alberta. The only store here that charges for bags is Real Canadian Superstore, so we bring our own. Otherwise you get plastic. Period. But I think it's a more biodegradable plastic, and we recycle anyway.
Chico bags people!! They bundle up into their own little pouch and come with a little clip. I have one attached to my purse at all times. They're super strong and I've had mine for 4 or 5 years now with little wear.
I always forget them and buy more canvas bags. I have a billion freaking canvas bags. We've had to use canvas bags (or pay 10 cents for plastic environmentally friendly bags) since 2010 I think.
Even by using canvas bags at supermarket and stucking stuff in my handbag for little purchases and such, I always manage to end up with dozens of plastic bags (wine shop, department stores ...) when I lived in China, I took a train in early Spring and I saw from a distance a tree covered with bright colorful flowers, I thought it was marvelous until I got close and realized they were shreds of plastic bags caught by the wind in the branches. It was sobering. I also take backpacks to the supermarket, you can carry a lot more!
Bring bags to places that only do paper (Whole Foods, Trader Joe's), get plastic everywhere else because my chihuahua poops like a champ!
ReplyDeleteI never take my own bags. We use the plastic bags over and over for other things, then recycle them.
ReplyDeleteDidn't we just do this a couple weeks ago?
ReplyDeleteFSP, it's deja vu all over again.
DeleteGlad I'm not the only one who remembers we just did this. Thought I might have taken too much acid for a minute. :-)
DeleteGrocery stores charge 10 cents per plastic bag where I live, so we bring our own bags. Not easy to minimize plastic bags though, so convenient, but they take 1000 years to dissolve.
ReplyDeleteMy city requires we bring our own bags now (paper bags are available for a minimum of $0.10 each if you forget) so I've been pretty good about having mine on hand.
ReplyDeleteI have used canvas bags for years.
ReplyDeleteWait...that was paper or plastic.
ReplyDeleteFSP, yeah but it's pretty much the same question. Same answers.
DeleteCome on guys! Enty is being very green and repurposing here. :-)
DeleteI'm going to start leaving ridiculous replies on the reused Your Turns, from now on.
DeleteLOL @Xander's right @Puggle, just recycle your comments in response to the repurposed Your Turn's.
DeleteI reuse the plastic bags all the time; I also reuse paper bags when I get them. I don't forget reusable ones in my car--they're in my house. With things in them.
ReplyDeleteI'm a terrible person.
Bring 'em, for my regular Sunday 6 a.m. shop at Shop Rite. If I'm just running in during the week, or if I walk the three blocks to the Acme and don't have my car, then probably not.
ReplyDeleteWhy would I bring my own bags when they give that shit for free
ReplyDeleteDragon, why you gotta tell like it is? LMAO
Delete@Lotta Lol its true tho
DeletePlastic bags all get reused for cat poop and coffee grinds. If you tried carrying your own bags into a store in Texas they would probably suspect you were shoplifting and call the police. Except in Austin, the California of Texas.
ReplyDeleteI do both. I use plastic shopping bags while I'm cooking to put discards and stinky things in so I can take them right to the garbage chute, and as bathroom garbage can bags. I use paper shopping bags as recycling bags since they themselves can be recycled. Whenever I have a major supply of both, I make sure to use cloth bags.
ReplyDeleteI bring my own plus I just bought a stash of reusable produce bags, too.
ReplyDeleteI always forget them, but I do have them - does that count?
ReplyDelete@VIP - that cracks me up about your dog. I do the same, but I have a Labrador! I'm always like, damn, dude either you're really healthy or really sick
I do half and half. I tend to remember my bags for groceries, but I usually forget them on a Walmart run. If I only have a few things, though, I will just carry them out without a bag. Sometimes, if I do forget the bags on a grocery trip, I will just have the checker put them back in my cart unbagged. I will just throw them in the trunk and use a laundry basket to bring them in.
ReplyDeleteIf your car is in the parking lot, didn't you technically bring the bags to the grocery store? (Although, I did remember to take my insulated basket into Trader Joe's yesterday. Go me!)
ReplyDeleteAlthough, we do love those Target plastic bags at my house. much thicker than the Wal-Mart/grocery store ones. Great for trashcan liners and cleaning out Drusilla's litterbox (why, yes, my other cat was named Spike.)
I have bags and have every intention of using them and most of the time I forget.
ReplyDeleteI do try to re-use the plastic bags but I suck for not remembering more often.
Dragon, I'm with you. We get plastic bags too, which makes us so much more horrible. Granted, scoops of cat shit and litter are later placed in some of those bags. Some are used again for the bathroom trash can. Others are used when scooping massive piles of dogshit in our backyard. Still, my carbon footprint is probably embarrassingly large.
ReplyDelete@Puggle Yup. They are useful too. I keep most of them.
DeleteHere in Toronto nearly all grocery and drug stores charge for plastic bags now. I've carried my own reusable ones for years. I hate that the stores sell them to you, but when you bring them back to shop with, the cashiers (especially at Walmart) look like they want to kill you because you want to use them. I end up packing them myself every time because I feel guilty that I'm interfering with their trained method of dropping every item into a separate, gray, rips if you put more than 2 items in it, plastic bag.
ReplyDeletecloth bags.
ReplyDeleteplastic grocery bags do not break down in the garbage- do not use them as poop/garbage bags!!
didn't we all learn this like 5 years ago??
I reuse the plastic ones for cleaning out the litter pan and cleaning up insane amounts of dog crap daily.
ReplyDeleteFSP agree this was done a few weeks ago! I am still getting used to the no plastic thing here in Austin. I think I've spent $20 on bags in the lst month because I keep forgetting them. I have also gone through my supply of old bags that I used to use as trash bags in the house.
ReplyDeleteI always forget mine too! And so I have like 50 now because I keep buying them. Pisses Hubby off. But I reuse them for like going to the park and keeping my daughter's change of clothes and diapers in there.
DeleteIf our Walmart started charging for bags, my little town would collectively shit a brick.
ReplyDeleteI have been carrying my own bags for about 4 years now. I ride mass trans, and it makes getting everything home safely much easier. Thank you Ikea, for making a huge cloth bag that serves no other purpose than lugging a week's worth of food home. I love it.
ReplyDeleteI use the bags available at the big chain stores. I also reuse all of them. I have several canvas bags that I use at ALDI. I occasionally bring my own cart for larger items.
ReplyDeleteNo plastic bags for me. Actually my city banned then years ago. I thought most SoCal cities have. For pet waste I use corn based biodegradable plastic bags.
ReplyDeleteI keep buying a bunch of the reusable grocery bags, and I keep forgetting them at home. Everytime I go wholefoods and traders, I just buy more. Now I have a million...and I still keep forgetting to bring them with me.
ReplyDeleteforgot them in the trunk last night, went out and brought them in when snob hill told me they charge 25 cents a bag!
ReplyDeleteBoth. My car is currently in the shop for body work and my bags are in the car. I save UPC's and mail off for free bags.
ReplyDeleteYup I'll repeat anyway. Been using cloth bags for a while now. Have them hanging by the door and 2 back ups for brain farts in the car. Forgot all of them yesterday and just carried the items since they no longer have bags at the Safeway. I made it to the register I can certainly make it to the car.
ReplyDeleteLeave them in the trunk. And on the back door hook where I specifically put them so I don't forget. And then I forget. I have yet to take a bag to the grocery store. ;(
ReplyDeleteI've been using the canvas bags for years. The first couple of weeks I had them I'd forget to put them in the car. Now it's "programmed" into my brain that I need to grab them before I go shopping.
ReplyDeleteNeither. Plastic bags that the grocery store provides. Proudly.
ReplyDeleteOh, and those thinking they are saving the Earth by using corn biodegradable ones? What about the poor starving children in 3rd world countries you are depriving of cheap food? Your selfishness is killing them. And for those enamored of Ethanol, poor Americans just trying to get to work thank you for screwing them over too.
ReplyDeleteI'm in Edmonton, Alberta. The only store here that charges for bags is Real Canadian Superstore, so we bring our own. Otherwise you get plastic. Period. But I think it's a more biodegradable plastic, and we recycle anyway.
ReplyDeleteI never bring bags bc I need the plastic bags from the grocery store for my cat litter.
ReplyDeleteI've been using reusable cloth bags since high school more than 10 years ago--I've always carried an extra bag for emergencies.
ReplyDeleteChico bags people!! They bundle up into their own little pouch and come with a little clip. I have one attached to my purse at all times. They're super strong and I've had mine for 4 or 5 years now with little wear.
ReplyDeleteChicobags.com
The sling is my favorite.
Ugh!! I forget them and I even moved them to my front seat!!!! Sigh!
ReplyDeleteMy trunk. Don't judge. At least I admit it.
ReplyDeletePS My family is balanced out by my husband who ALWAYS brings in his canvas bags. But that's because he's from Wisconsin and Minnesota.
DeleteI always forget them and buy more canvas bags. I have a billion freaking canvas bags. We've had to use canvas bags (or pay 10 cents for plastic environmentally friendly bags) since 2010 I think.
ReplyDeleteEven by using canvas bags at supermarket and stucking stuff in my handbag for little purchases and such, I always manage to end up with dozens of plastic bags (wine shop, department stores ...) when I lived in China, I took a train in early Spring and I saw from a distance a tree covered with bright colorful flowers, I thought it was marvelous until I got close and realized they were shreds of plastic bags caught by the wind in the branches.
ReplyDeleteIt was sobering.
I also take backpacks to the supermarket, you can carry a lot more!
I use plastic bags. Grocery store don't charge for em. I can't carry 7-8 paper ones at a time.
ReplyDelete1000years to break down a plastic bag? The Earth is 4 billion years old. 1000 years is like the time of a sneeze.
Leave a plastic grocery bag on the rear deck of a parked car for a couple months, then try to touch it. Now how long did it take to break down?