I go grocery shopping with bags from Dominion, Fortino's, Whole Foods, Walmart, Planet Organic, Ikea.....

The point is to not use the plastic bags. Use any cloth bags anywhere. I don't think the stores care.

I have bags from all over the place, some I have gotten free at trade shows, etc. I bring them all! Walmart is the only place that wants to put a smiley face sticker on each one, though, to show I was bringing it in. It's sometimes very hard to convince people that I don't want those plastic bags!

Thanks Nicole and bigbaby. That's what I thought, but I didn't know if it was rude to bring bags in from different stores. That's what I'll do then. I need to pick up some more though. There were only 3 hanging on the register so that's all I picked up. Also, after you bring your groceries in the house, do you put your bags back out in the trunk so you have them and don't forget for the next time you shop? That's what I'm thinking to do.

mickey....I'm sewing my own...so they won't have anyone's advertisement on them.

I've got baby blue with tiny little tulips.
Yellow with bigger purple and mauve tulips.
Several other fabrics in my stash that I think will make pretty ones.

I just need to start remembering to take them with me....

patti

They're only 99 cents, I'll get one this week. But I do use the plastic bags. I use them as liners for my wastebaskets. I don't know, does that count? They wind up in a garbage dump anyways.

None with store names on them.

I have some of cotton and this year's with synthetic fibre, with "Community Volunteer Income Tax Program" on them, so no store will be concerned.

I have received some from other non-retail sources, as well.

It seems to me that if the store offers me a long-service bag with their name on it, they should give it to me free, or at very low price ... as every time that I use it, I advertise for them.

Same with those car dealers that put their name on the back of the car that they sell you - with their dealership sticker should be $400. off, for doing their advertising for them. Every time that you drive!

ole joyful

I want to buy a few of the reusable bags, but I actually like getting the plastic bags. I use them daily for catbox litter. I will never throw them away, and usually collect them from my friends.

All my fabric bags are in use for other stuff like library books and swimwear so I never take them into the stores.

Off topic from the original comment. I've often thought that if these stores wanted to promote 'green' and recycling, why not make the bags from old denim jeans or recycled clothes. How many old clothes with plenty of wear get thrown away because of stains? If you were creating a new bag, you could either cut the stain out or use the other side of the fabric so it didn't show.

I haven't started using the cloth bags yet, but I do use the plastic bags from other stores to bag my groceries at Aldi's. Mickey15: As soon as I empty all my bags when I get home, I put all of them into one bag, hang on the doorknob so that the next time out to the car, they go in the trunk for the next grocery day. Otherwise, I'd always forget to take them.

Shirley

Patti, that's a neat idea. Although if I made my own, the bags would fall apart as I was walking to the car and my canned goods would go rolling everywhere and under cars! LOL! I'm not a very good sewer. Some day maybe I'll be brave and post a picture of the hooded-shirt I made for my dog...dh cracks up every time he sees it!

Jannie, I use the plastic ones for my bathroom trash can too, so once in a while I'll have to not take my cloth bags so I can replenish my trash can liners. LOL

I agree with you Joyful, they should be giving them to us free since we are advertising for them for free.

Naughtykitty. I don't throw away my plastic bags either, as a matter of fact I have a lot of them right now. You just reminded me I also use them for putting yucky things in and tying them them up good...cat throw up and doggy doodles...yuck.

Adellabadella, you have a good idea about using old clothes to make bags. Wonder if you could sell some on ebay?

Good idea Shirley. That is EXACTLY what I'm going to do too. Thank you!

I put my bags on the front seat. Otherwise I forget to bring them in with me! Couldn't care less what name is on the bag. If you don't want me to bring in a bag with the competitors name on it, tell me, I'll shop elsewhere! LOL! I do use the plastic bags for trash and other collectables, but I forget my bags in the car often enough, so my collection hasn't gone down too much.
BTW, one of the grocery stores near us pays you 5 cents when you use your own bag!
Kathy G in MI

I used to use plain canvas tote bags, until they kept getting used for everything else and disappeared. There was no name or advertising on them. And I always bought more than would fit in them, so I always got more plastic for garbage cans and litter. I keep thinking that I will make some, but so far, life has gotten in the way. You can always stencil your name on them, so there is no question about who's they are!

Tami

Kathyg I keep mine on the floor of the front seat too - but I confess that half the time I still forget and have to run back to the car to get them.

If you don't want to be a walking advertisment for the store the bags are flexible enough to turn inside out.

I bought them but don't use them. I prefer plastic store bags since I reuse them for so many things and rarely throw them away.
It's like the light bulbs I'll use those we've been using for the past century until the law takes effect that we can't buy them anymore.

Tammi, I use United Grocery store, from several different chambers of commerce, two Karstadt (German stores) and numerous others at any store I am in.

I used to use the United ones only at United, but not anymore. If the store doesn't have any of its own, well, no advertising from me, for them. :)

Moni

I also keep that HUGE Ikea bag in my car, and stick all the bags empty or full in it. Kathy

I have them from CVS,99 cent store and a couple other places.I keep saying i'm gonna applique something over their name,but havn't so far.I like the bags,just don't like advertising for them ,especially since i had to buy the bag to begin with.

OJ,the first thing DH and i do when we get a new car is to take that advertising license plate frame off.Now if they want to pay me to keep it there for awhile ok,but so far,they havn't.
Kathi

I have a bag that has Bleu Water Company on it. My DGD gave it to me but I have never used it. It is square, about 12X12 and has a heavy plastic removable bottom in it.

I shop mostly at Krogers for groceries and I get those nice coupons in the mail. The last ones included a coupon for a free bag. It is a nice heavy one about 8X12. I never see anyone using cloth bags, but I think I might start using them now that I have two. Using one for frozen items would be good.

Do you notice people using them where you shop?

Sue

Sue va - Most people around here still use the plastic ones but more and more people are starting to utilize the cloth bags. They have some advantages over the plastic ones - they're larger than the plastic, they stand up and keep their rectangular shape so it's easier to bag the groceries, and the handles are soft so when you carry them the handle doesn't cut into your hand.

The only down side (other than paying for them) is that you have to remember to take them with you when you shop.

No, I having bought them. I use the plastic store bags and
double them for heavy items.

Sue, just the past couple months I've notice more people coming into the stores when I do with the cloth bags in hand. But even last year I don't remember ever seeing anybody using them anywhere around here.

I use plastic bags when I mail packages. they fill in spaces so easy and are so light. May get some cloth ones soon

Use a cloth tote bag from a cruise!

We bought I think 7 of them from Meijer because that is where I do most of my grocery shopping. One day I had my cart over loaded with groceries and my bagger managed to get every bit of my things in those amazing little bags and she bagged everything safely. I love them! Now if only I could remember to bring them with me every time I go........but thats a whole other thread now isn't it? LOL! :)

I use the plastic bags in so many ways that I sometimes ask for extras. Same with paper sacks. If I were to use my own I would have to go out and buy plastic bags for all the other uses.

Like Minnie I won't change my light bulbs. I have started to buy a extras of my favorite light bulbs whenever they go on sale.

Thank goodness I have a handy hubby who can replace things around the house so we aren't forced into all the new "low energy" stuff too soon. I'm already thinking about what to hoard for future remodeling.

In the 1980s, grocery stores were on the 'selling cloth bags' bandwagon. Ralph's Grocery stores also gave back a nickel for every paper bag you didn't use. If you're old enough to remember, the use of paper bags was destroying our forests (yawn!), and we were then told that plastic was much better than paper for the enviroment. Now, of course, plastic bags 'take a thousand years to break down'. Those who tell you that have never tried to use one after it's been on the porch for a week, lol. Anyway, the cloth bags that are sold now aren't actual cloth, and don't last any longer on the porch. The function of a store is to sell anything you're willing to buy, including bags to save bags, hmmm. I've used large heavy canvas bags since the 80s, mostly because I don't want to bring a pile of plastic bags home, pile them up somewhere, then feel obligated to take them to be recycled, lest the earth will be destroyed. Now, it's time to replace light bulbs, washers, dryers, dishwashers, water heaters, refrigerators, windows, and even cars, with new, energy efficient ones, then throw all the old ones away. Doesn't it take massive energy and materials to manufacture and deliver all this stuff? It's a good thing that today there are 5 different trash trucks to pick up stuff every trash day instead of one, or we'd never be able to throw all these still working items away (sarcasm).

On a lighter note, I've been making new cr*p from old cr*p all my life, because it's fun, and have probably cut up thousands of old jeans to make bags, quilts, etc. A lot of the jeans just magically show up at my front door from friends and neighbors, so I don't even have to go find them. Here are a couple of the bags. Linda

Well stated Linda and I love your "jeans".

If we were really serious about being wasteful we would go back to the old days before anyone heard the word green as it is applied today.

Milk came in bottles that were returned and sterilized to be used again and again.

Glass was the only option for soda. You paid your deposit and it was returned to you when you brought it back. Today we pay a deposit on every recyclable can and plastic or glass bottle but instead of getting our deposit back we are told to recycle them.

Cottage cheese was often packaged in reusable glasses, mugs and bowls. When you emptied your jam or jelly jar you were left with a drinking glass.

Flour came in sacks of of pretty printed cloth.

Garden items from seed to manure came in nice heavy reusable burlap sacks. Today we get layers of treated paper with several colored inks describing the product and advertising others.

Appliances were function over form, lasted 20 years and were only replaced when they wore out or something truly better (not just fashionable) came along. You didn't need twenty different household cleaners and special cloths to keep them looking "new" either.

People knew how to put a great tasting meal on the table two or three times a day with a cast iron skillet and a couple of pots. No teflon, no anodized cookware requiring special utensils and a waffle iron or coffee pot was about as exclusive as one got with specialized "do just one thing" appliances.

The well dressed person had a few changes of school or work clothes, play clothes and a Sunday or party outfit. Kids got new shoes when they outgrew them, not when Dick or Jane down the street got a new pair.

People were proud to still be driving their "old" car. It meant they took good care of it.

See people were "greener" than we are without ever having heard the word. LOL

But then business learned that they could make more dollars off the public by promoting a throw away society. Now the pendulum has swung the other way and they will try to get the dollars by trying to scare us into going green and buying new products to allegedly achieve this.

Whole new industries will be formed to deal with the hazardous waste of CFLs, junked two year old appliances,electric car components,and those wonderful polyethylene bags "reusable" bags from China. New government jobs will open up to head committees who will be tax payer supported to decide who will get the grant money (more of our tax dollars) to ponder the problem for years and years until the pendulum swings once again.

I have several canvas bags that i have been using for years (only a couple have store names on them) I have one from a childs fund raiser for school (8 yrs ago), 1 a going away gift from former coworkers (they all had their names put on it, great memories), 1 a buy our milk, get this gift type, 1 that is from a store, they gave it to you (this was in 89 or 90, 5 states ago!) as part of some promotion

I do have 2 of the new ones that are the microfiber cloth, I got those a couple of times on the way to ____ when I stopped to grab my contribution to the meal, didn't want to worry about if it got misplaced, but dislike the plastic bags, and most of the stores around here don't give you the choice of paper.

I also use baskets to carry things in, not groceries but when I go to Stitch Group, or a potluck at church, anything like that.

Linda, in the second picture is that a changing pad, or one of those "chalkboard" placemats for kids?

Ellie

I get the plastic store bags for garbage use from friends that don't do the cloth bag thing. I have been doing the cloth bag thing since sometime in the 70's. So far, none have worn out. They last and last and last.

All of mine go in to one, and hang on the garage door handle before going back in to the car.

Ever once in a while I walk to the store forgetting them, but usually by the time I get to the carts I remember and go back and get them.

Here is my haul from the store in cloth.

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

I have a couple of "Save The Children" bags. I don't mind that sort of advertisement.

I make my own, I like having pretty bags. As soon as I find some reasonable fabric that I like, I plan to make myself of about 8-10 matching ones like these-

{{!gwi}}

Those denim bags are really cute! I like all the tags sewn on.

Hi Ellie, Thanks. That small quilt was made to be a sample, but thanks for the placemat idea. It's now going to DGS. DS and DD both have full size quilts from the same idea.

Hi Flamingo, Your bags are cute and just the right size. Are you selling them? People tell me to sell grocery bags because people want them right now, but I haven't.

Hi Wildchild, Are you from SoCal too? It's pretty lonely here with our views sometimes. Don't even get me started on bottled water, lol. When exactly did tap water become poisenous? Why don't people know that if it's in the tap water, it's also in those plastic bottles, being that it comes from the same tap? All our water has been recycled since the beginning of time, and there's no magic in bottled water. Check out this take on bottled water by Penn and Teller. Warning, there may be cussing in it. It's right on the money. Linda

Here is a link that might be useful: Penn and Teller on bottled water

I haven't sold any, Linda, but they make great gifts. It takes a fair amount of fabric to make one, they're fully lined, so they aren't cheap to make. No one wants to pay $20 for one bag. lol

Linda I am in the SF Bay Area. I was raised in the East Bay which is a bit more conservative but now I am in the South Bay. Doesn't get worse for pragmatists like me. LOL We have "new age" "whole foods" and a "starbucks" on every corner. Sometimes I feel like I am living in a parallel universe.

I have bags from 2-3 different stores, and I use them anywhere. One cashier made a joke about it once, but it was friendly.The store I shop at most gives us 3 cents off per bag you use. Not much, but hey everything adds up!

Sue, Some of the stores, are selling insulated bags for frozen items. Nice if you are travelling a ways to go home.
I rarely see poeple use them, but now that they are selling everywhere I hope it picks up. We usually end up with one or two plastic bags still, but we use them for the trash cans or dirty diapers etc, or I just recycle next time i'm at the store (bags not the diapers-lol)

I also unload my bags in the kitchen, then hang the empty bags on the door to put in the car next time I go down. I usually remember for the grocery store, but I'm trying to use them at Walmart and Target now.

Flamingo, I sell things I make, and do quilts and bags for gifts also. We're lucky here to have lots of outlets for fabrics and sewing stuff, including downtown Los Angeles and lots of swap meets, so can get it dirt cheap. The link below has pics of some of those places. You may have outlets like these if you live near a large city. If there are sewing contractors, there will be salvage from them.

Teresava, I've used my bags at every store, swap meet, estate sale, etc., everywhere I might shop. No one has ever cared about what bag is used. Linda

Here is a link that might be useful: Sewing salvage around LA

flamingo,
did you buy or create your pattern for your bags?

She cut open a plastic bag from walmart (or other store that gives them out) and created her own pattern.

There is a link someplace for such bags, lemme look....

This isn't the link I was looking for, but could work too.

Moni

Here is a link that might be useful: shopping bag

I made four bags from the pattern that Flamingo posted a while back. I just love them. I made the handles a bit longer than the pattern. I use them every time I go shopping and always put them right back in the car after unloading. All the cashiers and even other customers always ohh and ahh over them. The manager at our Publix said she would love to buy some from me but I haven't committed to that. They really hold alot.

~Betsy

Scottymam, I used this tutorial that I found online. Moni is correct, I used a bag to make a pattern.

Linda, thanks for the info. I don't live near a big city, but I do travel a bit, so I'll keep my eyes peeled!

Here is a link that might be useful: Shopping bag tute...

That was the one I was hunting for, Thanks Flamey. I am putting the tutorial and pictures in a word file now.

Make sure, if you decide to print it out, to look and print only the pages you really need. This has 50 some pages to it!

Moni