Yeah I know I can just Google it, but sometimes humans know things that the computer doesn't. Anybody know some places to get reusable shopping bags besides Whole Foods and like, Wal-Mart? Buying them from a megalomart would sort of defeat the reason why I'm getting them, and the Whole Foods' bags are emblazoned with their logo all huge on both sides, and I don't like to advertise for a corporation unless they're paying me. I like to look "generic".

Anyway, anyone know of any cool places I should check out before making this investment?

there's another thread about that here (http://www.veggieboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=53839).

I got mine from www.reusablebags.com - love these (http://www.reusablebags.com/store/organic-cotton-string-shopping-p-4.html).

:vebo:

~Hannah

I use bags from the above link, and a bag from my local co-op.

just a quick question.. what price do you pay for the bags from your regular grocery store? The ones at reusablebags.com look great, but a lot more pricey than the dollar each that I pay for my "green bags"

You could go to thrift or secondhand stores and see if they have any.

I got one of mine from Save the Children. It is a nice sturdy canvas bag with picures of all the little children from around the world and another i got from either the Signals or Wireless catalog that says Bookwoman and has this woman with way out there frizzy hair surrounded by books. But my inlaws have just got us some plain denim bags from either Hobby lobby or Micheals Craft stores. I like designs on mine but if you want ultra plain go to a big craft store as they have plain ones for sale that you are meant to decorate.

Yeah, i just have a giant plain one from Michaels craft store and painted "V is for VEGAN" on it. hah. it only came out to 7 dollars or so for 2 of them
doubles as a book bag because im still in highschool.

Why are our hemp bags, wallets, and accessories, all of which are designed specifically for the purist who will settle for nothing less than truly sustainable products, special? 1) Because they are made from certified organic European hemp (which can only be found at Rawganique.com: Ecolution, our partner in vision, has set aside 60 acres of their hemp fields for organic certification specifically to produce hemp products for our discerning customers — this represents the first and only organic certification in the world for hemp fiber). 2) Because our hemp bags, wallets, and accessories have the highest hemp content in their class in the entire industry. No compromises are made, nor corners cut when it comes to the details that really make our hemp bag sustainable, durable, and naturally beautiful: the trims, tapes, straps are all made from specially designed hemp yarn whenever possible. No nylon liners or polyester straps for us!

For all kind of bags: http://www.rawganique.com/ecolutionbags.htm

I try to reuse what I get at stores. Although, It really steams me at Kroger when they just bag my groceries without asking me what I prefer and bag them before I can say that I'll bag them myslef, or they don't hear me and do it anyway. Then I have to rebag them into my canvas bag and stuff the plastic bags in the plastic bag recycle bin in the front of the store.:mad: That's why I prefer the self check out so I don't have to deal with customer "service".

The aforementioned large canvas bag I actually rescued from the trash. It was in the trash can of my building's laundry room. It originated from the Auto Club. Can't get much more eco-friendly than that.:D

I just found Reusablebags this morning from a link from the Green Living board on iVillage. It is a cool site.

I think we should do a mass letter writing campaign to major stores (i.e., Kroger, your local chain, Wal-Mart) and complain about the bags. Aldi, which is a store that sells mostly house brands (and I've heard owns Trader Joe's), similar to Save-A-Lot, sells their paper bags for a nickel and the plastic bags for a dime and the insualted bags for a couple of bucks. (They also "rent" carts. There is a gizmo on the cart where a quarter is put in and the "key" connecting it to the cart behind it pops out. To return the cart and get your quarter back, the "key" is put back in the and quarter pops out. Great strategy so that the carts don't wind up all over Creation and especially if one doesn't take the cart back and another shopper finds it.)

It just sickens me to see the bags and other forms of trash on the creek bed and in the creek by Kroger.

Laura

Yeah, in the Ireland you are charged a fee for plastic bags and it has cut down on bag consumption by a lot (something like 60% if I remember correctly). In England it is a much more common practice to bring your own. Every store we go to is a bag your own so it is easy. And most stores ask "Do you want a bag?" or "Do you want to put this in your bag?" so that's great. When we lived in Louisiana I was accused of trying to shoplift because I came with cloth bags. The manager said it was "highly suspicious"--ha ha. We are back in the US visiting and we've brought our cloth bags to Krogers. The poor bagger looked frightened when we asked him to do it but he did use them. We did hear him mutter as we were leaving something about "too much trouble" but Oh well. That's one thing i hated about Louisiana--they try to give you a plastic bag for everything--even a candy bar. C'mon, people. I can tuck it in my purse. I don't need a giant plastic bag for this wee little chockie.

in australia there is no fee for plastic bags.. and you need to get in quick and shove your cloth bags in their face and then witness the "roll of the eyes" and the oh **** i have to pack in these.

I would much prefer to pack my own, but you don't get that here.

easy way to get good looking shoppingbags? make your own!
i've bought old drapes and tableclothes (made of nice looking fabric) from second hand stores and sown them into bags. not too difficult :yes:

Here is a great deal. I just ordered 2 today. I waited awhile because I didnt have the money but I was glad they were still offering the promotion!

http://www.ebfarmstore.com/Organic_Cotton_Tote_p/ebf-06.htm

I've never bought reusable grocery bags-- it seems we're always getting freebie tote bags from different places. Mostly through our employers, but also from conferences, seminars, and stuff. And non-profit groups. A couple of them are nice roomy ones that are great for groceries.

Now if I could just remember to take them to the store with me... :think:

I have one from Trader Joes, but it has their logo
i also have one from the Body Shop again with their logo........
i also have plain canvas totes from LLBean.........i have a huge one i try to remember to bring. But i usually buy so much stuff i cant fit it all in to my canvas totes. so i end up with some paper bags, but i reuse them........i use them for stuff in the basement, and i also use them to stuff boxes when i ship off my ebay stuff.

I got mine for 99 cents at my local grocery store (Save-On-Foods). They're sturdy, green and have a tiny logo on the side of the bag. I keep them in my car so that they're always handy.

The cashiers/baggers are very friendly about the bags. They will always offer to bag for me, although I prefer that they just ring my food through and let me bag it myself.

I have a bunch. This one from MEC is my favourite: http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=84552444254 3349&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302699955&bmUID=1148338778980. It's huge and really strong. I've actually bought a bunch as gifts so my friends carry them, too :-)

I have one from the library. They sell them as fundraisers so they're not cheap, but I feel good about supporting them.

I have one from the LCBO. It has 4 pockets that keep glass bottles separate.

I also have some that I got free, but I find that the free ones aren't as strong.

I'd love to get a mesh bag that collapses to practically nothing so I could always carry it in my backpack. (My backpack tends to get really full.) Because I'm in Canada, reuseablebags.com's shipping is nuts, so I'm still waiting to find something.

http://www.greenbag.info/

I got two of these today at my hfs for 2.99 a peice. I like them because they fold out and are pretty fat. I would have liked a better price for them.

Well I know you're asking specifically about reusable shopping bags, but I thought I'd offer a another suggestion if you don't mind?

I don't use resuable bags, but I do use the bags I get at the stores as trash bags. That way I'm not spending extra money on wasteful plastic and I'm reusing the bags on something else. The extra bags I end up with I use to hold my recycling until I can make it to the bins, then I recycle the bags themselves.

Thanks so much everyone!! When I was in Austin last week I bought one of the mesh ones that expands at a food co-op. I LOVE it! It holds soooooo much and I can wad it up and carry it in my pocket.

Moe, I use the grocery store plastic bags until they fall apart when I have them. :)

I think we should do a mass letter writing campaign to major stores (i.e., Kroger, your local chain, Wal-Mart) and complain about the bags. Aldi, which is a store that sells mostly house brands (and I've heard owns Trader Joe's), similar to Save-A-Lot, sells their paper bags for a nickel and the plastic bags for a dime and the insualted bags for a couple of bucks. (They also "rent" carts. There is a gizmo on the cart where a quarter is put in and the "key" connecting it to the cart behind it pops out. To return the cart and get your quarter back, the "key" is put back in the and quarter pops out. Great strategy so that the carts don't wind up all over Creation and especially if one doesn't take the cart back and another shopper finds it.)
It just sickens me to see the bags and other forms of trash on the creek bed and in the creek by Kroger.
Laura

Very good idea!! Places like that are always willing to try a new "fad" (as sad as it is to put it like that... but that's how they'd see it and I think they'd be all for it).

By the way, just a side note... Aldi's is really a great place. There may be more like it but it's the only one of its kind I've seen. Their system is pretty good (like you said) - But also, they sell the products that stores like Kroger won't take, because they're dented or a little older or they have the old logo on them, etc... all the stupid reasons that so much perfectly fine food today gets wasted and thrown out into landfills. If any of you have one in your area you should definitely check it out. I don't know how useful it'd be for those of you who are vegan, but for vegetarians (or anyone really) who don't want to support places like Kroger, I think it's really a good option. (Not to mention, it is much cheaper :) )

there's another thread about that here (http://www.veggieboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=53839).

I got mine from www.reusablebags.com - love these (http://www.reusablebags.com/store/organic-cotton-string-shopping-p-4.html).

:vebo:

~Hannah

Those are really nice bags, hannah. Thanks for the link.

I "inherited" my canvas bags from my grandmother and bought one at Giant, my local grocery store. Giant also takes three cents off one's bill for every re-usable bag used, in addition to having a recycling bin for their plastic bags sitting right in front of the door. I think it's pretty nifty myself.

I've accumulated quite a few from friends and relatives (they got them as premiums or when attending a convention, etc. and then toss them into the closet, unused), thrift stores, yard sales. If you go to any type of convention or know someone who does, and they are giving out canvas bags as "gifts," you might ask if there are any left over after the event is done. Doesn't always work, but worth a try.

I finally remembered to TAKE my shopping bag yesterday...it is difficult making this transition as I hadn't realized how unconcious I had become about the shopping bags I use. What I found was that I really enjoyed having my bag (from greenbags). I got quite a bit of stuff, and all of it fit into just one bag. I had to make two stops, and for one stop I did need a few plastic bags for something big...but I think I saved about four shopping bags. Next time I'll take both big bags with me.

B

Speaking of reusable bags, I finally took mine to the regular grocery store (not Whole Foods) and the sacker wadded them up, put them in a plastic bag, and almost handed them to the people in front of me before I stopped him! Goes to show how alien the concept of bringing your own bags is at most grocery stores.

I agree with Bethanie, you can fit many more groceries into fewer bags, and if you've got the right bag, you can sling the whole thing over your shoulder so the weigth is not bad to carry. But at regular grocery stores, you have to watch out for sackers who never learned how to sack in larger bags because they've never used anything but plastic. They can squish produce.