Hey guys, I recently saw a posting that led me somehow to here I think, but I wanted to post this cause its just so cool :)

http://www.reusablebags.com

I use a hemp shopping bag and I get endless complements on it. Its super strong and very useful. I think I am going to buy the sandwich bags, I always try to wash and reuse the plastic ones but they die so quickly anyway :-P

Plastic bags = evil! :-) reusable bags = good :vebo:

Hey guys, I recently saw a posting that led me somehow to here I think, but I wanted to post this cause its just so cool :)

http://www.reusablebags.com

I use a hemp shopping bag and I get endless complements on it. Its super strong and very useful. I think I am going to buy the sandwich bags, I always try to wash and reuse the plastic ones but they die so quickly anyway :-P

Plastic bags = evil! :-) reusable bags = good :vebo:
The hemp bags are nice! I just might have to buy some. Thanks for posting the link.

The guy in my local health food shop gave me a free reusable bag a few months back and it was the first time I realised just how wasteful and environmentally unsound it was of me to throw away every carrier bag I got. Now I save all my bags and take two or three with me when I go out. I haven't needed a new carrier bag in months :)

It always saddens me when people in shops look surprised when I say I have my own bag with me. My local greengrocer told me they go through a box full of carrier bags a week, and that's just a corner shop!

It's one of those little things that would be so easy for people to change and it would make such a difference, but most people don't give it a second thought :(

Ok off-topic.. and old thread! But still!!
At work I ask pretty much everyone if they want a bag. (I dont ask if they have tons of little things) Most of the time they do. But still occassionally they dont! :vebo: Everyone else just gives people bags no matter what.. so I use wayyy less bags! Man we use heaps!

That's good that you ask people. I hate when I go and buy one little thing and they quickly throw it in a bag without asking. The health food stores are usually good about asking.

Danny, I did that when I cashiered, too. Saved a lot of bags that way!

I love using reusable bags for shopping. I use the string bags, but all but 2 of them have broken after many years of use, so I think I'm going to buy some hemp or cotton ones soon.

bstutzma, I think I'd prefer putting my sandwich in a small sandwich-size tupperware container than in one of those bags. :confused:

My work goes through absolutely insane amounts of bags. :spew:

I do what I can. :)

I wear a button that tells people they get 5 cents off for each bag they reuse and usually one person a day comments on it and that's pretty good! At the end of the night when I enter sales they bag discount sale has gone from about $4.00 a day (80 bags saved) at the begining of this year to around $10.00. Of course, that's not entirely due to me. :o

I always ask "Do you want a bag today?" and when the person says yes, but they don't need one, it drives me crazy. :p

hi mikey :-) I actually like them better than tupperware containers - either the containers were too big and my tomato would fall to the side getting the sandwich all soggy, or they were too small and the lid would pop off before i got to it. (I like to PACK my sandwiches, hehe). This way I can wrap them nice and snug and hold all the contents just where i want them - and also, they take up less space in the bag than the tupperware, making more room for veggies and soy pudding (very very bad chocolate addict) ;-)

:hungry:

Alright, fair enough. :D

hehe
actually i left out the best part - they make a lovely mat for your food, like a small placesetting :-)

sorry, i know i'm easy to please :-)

It always saddens me when people in shops look surprised when I say I have my own bag with me. My local greengrocer told me they go through a box full of carrier bags a week, and that's just a corner shop!



I also agree with DannyKass. We go through heaps as well :-/ I usually ask if it is a small item like are purchasing usually some form of makeup or lollies etc. if they want a bag. Some do and it is the smallest item *rolls eyes* but there are also some people who are really good and will say 'well I can put that in my bag can't I?' which is really nice.

As for at home, my mum usually saves all her supermarket bags and reuses them when she needs bag for something. I usually keep most of mine for rubbish etc.

I've been a cashier for a couple years now and not too long ago when people would bring their own bags in I would get soooooo irritated. I thought they were a big pain in the ass because it was almost impossible to bag them quickly or with any semblance of organization.

Now, it makes me happy to see people with their own bags... but they're still a pain in the ass to bag. I suggest if you bring them, bag them yourself. That way, you know where everything is when you get home, and you don't have to worry about what your crushables might be underneath of.

I must have atleast a hundred or so plastic grocery bags. The stores used to allow you to return them to be recycled but they no longer do that. I try and use them as garbage bags but they add up so quickly.

Quite a few of the larger grocery stores will allow you to bring in your recycling bins to use when grocery shopping. It's such a good idea.

:idea: Note to self: buy bins.

With any plastic bags that I get, I try to reuse them as garbage bags or I give them away to be used. The library here has bins where you can drop them off so people can use them as book bags & the thrift stores are always in need of them. For anyone with a dog, they're great poopy bags for walks, too, granted that they don't have any holes! :)

For anyone with a dog, they're great poopy bags for walks, too, granted that they don't have any holes! :)

Ugh.. don't remind me. Although I don't have a dog, I use the bags for scooping poop out of the cats litterboxes... too many bags have holes and it's not a nice feeling to have the bag break and poop fall on your feet. :stinkeye:

Ugh.. don't remind me. Although I don't have a dog, I use the bags for scooping poop out of the cats litterboxes... too many bags have holes and it's not a nice feeling to have the bag break and poop fall on your feet. :stinkeye:

Hee hee. Sorry to get off topic, but this reminded me of a story I feel I must tell. I love to walk around barefoot in the warm months and *twice* I have accidentally stepped in Bruno's "butt nuggets" when walking around in the yard. Ugh!

I noticed today that the normal plastic bags from the supermarket I go to now say "This is a biodegradable plastic bag, please reuse this bag in the interest of the environment", which is good if people actually do it!

I've also seen a few different supermarkets that sell reusable cloth bags.

Mountain Equipment Co-op has really strong organic cotton bags that they sell at ten bucks a piece. They come in two different colours: khaki and dark green. Mountain Equipment Co-op (http://www.mec.ca)

I'm not sure if they sell them online yet but I'm certain that they sell them in the stores so they may be willing to ship them out if you make a special request. As a side note for those that don't know this is a Canadian based company so prices are in Canadian dollars. I recommend their other products like their fleece jackets. :up:

I placed an order with reuseablebags.com about a month ago for produce bags and their evergreen produce bags (they are supposed to keep produce from spoiling as fast, we'll see). The produce bags are fantastic and they shipped my order to me very quickly. They even included one of their small bumper stickers :sunny:

I find myself wanting to buy more bags from them but I already have enough reuseable bags as it is.....

I only have 1 cotten bag so far, but I plan on collecting a few more. They are very good.

I almost always have my backpack with me, so my groceries go there. Our household reuses EVERY plastic bag we buy. what we dont reuse, we take to be recycled. we save produce bags, bulk department bags, bread bags, ziplocks, everything. We're fairly hardcore about recycling in this house. Now if there were only a curbside recycling program here...

sigh...... you do what you can.....

I've been a cashier for a couple years now and not too long ago when people would bring their own bags in I would get soooooo irritated. I thought they were a big pain in the ass because it was almost impossible to bag them quickly or with any semblance of organization.

Now, it makes me happy to see people with their own bags... but they're still a pain in the ass to bag. I suggest if you bring them, bag them yourself. That way, you know where everything is when you get home, and you don't have to worry about what your crushables might be underneath of.

I have this problem with our cashiers. They (not all) act like it's a big pain in the ass to pack reusables. It's becoming more common over the last couple of months even so they're not as bad as they were but it really made me mad, especially to have cashiers virtually throwing me things to pack into my bags, so that the goods just pile up and I look like an idiot coz I'm not fast enough. I don't mind helping pack them at all, but the rudeness of some of these cashiers astounds me... and then I get lovely ones who have figured out an efficient way to do it and just get on with their job.

Cashiers need to be trained to deal with environmentally friendly bags, especially if the shop is pushing reusables. There is nothing worse than trying to do the right thing by the environment and being made to feel like a pain in the ass by the cashier...

I love this site - thanks for sharing bstutzma. This may be the most exciting thing I've seen all year :D

I stopped taking my own bags when I started buying for a household instead of just myself because I got a really negative reaction from the store employees.

But now, I don't care how they react. My goal to preserve the earth is more important than their annoyance at having to break their rhythym a little.

I am always appauled when I hear those nasty little statistics on waste in America and how casually we pollute the earth with landfills and horrible chemicals.

Such a small thing to bring your own bag - can't believe I let myself get coerced into bad behavior by a bunch of bratty baggers.

I can't wait to get my kitchen stocked with reusable bags -

bye bye ziplock :hi:

A couple of months ago, I got a big industrial size cone of cotton twine/yarn and have been crocheting grocery bags with it - something to keep me entertained and environmentally more sound than plastic bags. How could ya go wrong? ;)
Living in such a small town, folks in every store I go into know that I'm that strange girl with the bags!

Thanks for posting all these links...lots of good places to get bags. The co-op I sometimes shop at charges extra for bags. You have to ask for them! I just keep my cotton bag with me at work and then when I have to run down there for something I always have it with me.