Eco bags

[pomtzu]

Do many of you use the reusable bags? I'm beginning to think I'm the only person in the state of DE that uses them. I got some for Christmas and have bought more since, and use them all the time when I go shopping. I love them!!! They're so much easier to handle than the plastic ones, not to mention being environmentally friendly. However I have to say that I've NEVER seen anyone else around here using them. They're for sale everywhere and they certainly are cheap enough - Walmart and Walgreens has them for as little as 50 cents each - and just about every store anymore has them.
I'm so glad to be rid of a ton of plastic bags. The only thing that they're used for in this house, is to clean out the litter box!!! :p

[Karen]

They have had several coupons to get them free at both our local Stop and Shop and Shaw's grocery stores. I use them all but once a week, when I get a large paper bag from Whole Foods to put my paper recycling in for the week.

[Catty1]

I sure do!

I use the pooper scooper biodegradable bags for cleaning the cat box. A small package lasts forever.

My kitchen garbage bags are biodegradable also...I have to pay for them, but big deal. Planet Earth is worth it!:)

I have reusable grocery bags - heavy synthetic/cloth ones, and a plastic grocery bin for large trips. Many of the ones here have the writing "bin shopping" on them. :)

I dream that one day it won't be unusual.

[Ginger's Mom]

I do, they are much sturdier and easier to use than either plastic or paper bags. I only use them when food shopping or BJ shopping, but still I really like them. As a matter of fact a lady saw me loading my BJ stuff into the eco bags and putting them in my trunk and said she thought it was a great idea and was going to get some.

[shepgirl]

We haven't started spotting those here yet but I think they're not too far away. Pomtzu I love the plastic bags , I reuse them for just about everything but especially for dog do in the yard. We pay five cents per bag here but I think the other ones will be as cheap so I won't notice any difference and they will be more earth friendly. Someone sent me an article about using the plastic bags to restuff dog beds but I haven't tried that yet, I think the noise would be bothersome. But I did see how you can knit lots of stuff with stips of plastic bags.

[Grace]

I have been using them for over 20 years. I bought 4 or 5 from a place in New Hampshire and they are still going strong.

I also got some recently from Whole Foods. Very colorful, with this inscription on the bag - I used to be a plastic bottle.

That's right - recycled pop bottles. Cost was 99¢ per bag, and if they break Whole Foods will replace them.

[kitten645]

We may get alot of crap about being Californians but I'd say at least 30-40% of the people that come to my store have reusable bags. There are even signs at the front door of most grocery stores reminding people so they can go back to the car to get theirs! I admit to having scampered back a few times myself but I've found super cute ones that fold up to nothing and I just leave it in my purse.
My store even gives you a five cent credit per bag that you bring in! And aside from all the PC stuff, I can tell you that a grocery bag cost alot more than $.05 so the store benefits as well.
Claudia

[cassiesmom]

I am such a butter brain, I always forget to bring my reusable bag with me to the supermarket! I was at IKEA today and bought a really L-O-U-D one (bright red with a busy pattern) for $1.50. I figured that way I would see it and remember to take it. I'm going to try and remember to put it right back in the car after I've been to the supermarket. IKEA also sells zip top bags for a sack of cat box filler, made from recycled materials. I like that idea because it would make it easier to get the sack from the car to the closet.

[pomtzu]

I put mine right back in the car after I've emptied them in the house. If I didn't do that - I'd never remember them either!

[Randi]

I use plastic bags again and again - I put two together, that makes them stronger.

[finn's mom]

I use reusable bags for shopping. When I forget mine at the store, I just push my cart full of groceries outside, load the stuff in the car and bag the groceries at home. :) I also stopped using produce bags a year or so ago. Unless it's something really small, like loose spinach or green beans.

There's a site that I want to start buying produce bags from called www.ecobags.com. They have small reusable bags for stuff like grains and produce, too.

I also stopped using plastic bags in my small garbage cans. We are required to have our regular garbage in bags, so I can't stop using them in our main trash can.

[Kona & Oreo's mom]

I use them.

Right now, the grocery stores give you $0.05 per bag credit if you bring your own. It's not a lot, but it adds up.

The city council is considering banning plastic grocery bags altogether or making the grocery store charge you for each bag you use if you don't bring your own.

[IRescue452]

Nope. Its not that I hate the environment, but I reuse plastic bags. I use them to clean out the rat cages. I bring loads of them to the dog park to help restock the poop bags. If they banned plastic bags I can't imagine how the dog park would look because half the people don't remember to bring them, which is why a lot of us try to keep the park stocked.

[Maya & Inka's mommy]

I use them all the time! I have at least 10 reusable bags, and 6 foldable crates! In my country shops aren't allowed anymore to hand out plastic bags, so if you didn't bring a bag of your own, you can either buy one, use a cardbord box, or carry everything in your arms :p

[Edwina's Secretary]

I use them. I even take my own shopping bags with me when I go to the department store or any other.

For scooping the kitty litter -- I save the bags the newspapers come in and use those instead.

[snowbelle15]

No, I reuse the plastic bags though. I usually take two or three bags with me to the store and use them. But I would like to start using the reusable bags.

[pitc9]

I use them all the time. I have 8 of them and always leave at least 1 in my car at all times!

This summer I am going to start doing something about the dog poop. I clean up poop and put it in plastic grocery bags to throw out and it bothers me. (Besides, I don't have many plastic bags left! :p)
I need to look into a composter, or find biodegradable bags that won't break the bank.

[gini]

One of my clients had special bags made up that he had designed for Christmas as gifts. I was the happy recipient of three of them. I bought a slightly larger one from Petco.

They are so much easier to handle than plastic bags and your groceries don't fall out as they do in plastic bags when you are driving.

When I get home I unload them - then put them right by the front door so next time I need to go out - I put them back in the car.

I am hoping that they soon ban the plastic bags but I do use the ones that I get for kitty litter. The only problem is that some of the bags are so flimsy that they won't hold the litter.

[Pembroke_Corgi]

I use them when I remember to take them! But, when we do get plastic or paper bags, they are always used. The plastic for scooping kitty litter and the paper for holding recyclables.

It's not at all uncommon to see people bringing in their own bags here, and in fact Denver is considering legislation to charge 10 cents per bag at grocery stores to encourage people to use less.

[Catty1]

What I did was go to my local hardware/pet/department/grocery store and ask for the biodegradable ones.

If nothing else, it creates demand! ;)

I find them cost effective - spending a tiny bit to lighten my footprint - and any plastic grocery bags I have, I just plain recycle. Grocery stores and recycle depots often take them - just ask.

[smokey the elder]

I use the plastic ones for cleaning the litter boxes. The problem with re-using the plastic ones for groceries is that heavy loads cause the belly seam (bottom) to fail, weakening the bag. I hate when the bags break! The newspaper bags are too skinny and flimsy. If they were bigger I'd use them.

I use reusable bags for the farmer's market, though.

[Catty1]

smokey - the stores that sell the reusable bags should also have small bins to put the bags in. The one I got was $5 or something and is well worth the price.

You can even use a small Rubbermaid container bin.

Regular grocery plastic takes 100 years to break down, so I am glad that alternatives are available.:)

[sirrahbed]

I am *trying* - bought 5 cloth totes from our discount house (about a dollar each) and just keep forgetting to bring them - so put them out in the truck when I saw this post. I hope to make it a habit. As for the plastic bags I accumulate - I double them and use them when scooping the cat boxes. Paper bags get reused to wrap packages. The new tote bags should be really nice to have once I get that habit established. So far, I have never seen anyone actually using them in the grocery stores or anywhere else - but glad to read that many are getting into it.:D

[Logan]

Use them all the time! And I love them! I'm seeing more and more folks bringing their own bags to the store and some of our stores give you credit for bringing your own bags, too.

[RedHedd]

Yes, we use them in San Francisco. Plastic bags have been outlawed since last year sometime. I reuse my paper bags too. I've always hated tne crackling noise the plastic bags make and they're just unweildy and cumbersome when they load groceries into them.

[carole]

Yes i do use them for my supermarket shopping,they are great too, i still do have plenty of plastic bags around though,I try to do my best if i can.