Thanks for the feedback. rustyj14, just to clarify, I wasn't really asking about disposable bags, like the plastic "contractors' bags" you mentioned. I find them very useful, too, and I do use a lot of plastic or brown paper disposable bags like that for curbside pick-up of some kinds of yard waste. In addition to those, though, I'm thinking about some sort of a durable, permanent, non-disposable bag that I could use instead of plastic garbage cans for hauling bulky material from one part of the yard to another, where I would then dump it out and re-use the bag. For example, I've included a link below to a page featuring the kind of thing I'm inquiring about. If you or anyone has feedback or recommendations about what styles or brands of this kind of bag I should look for or avoid, that would be great. boltonranger, I would love a good chipper/shredder, and indeed that might be part of the solution (although I suppose I'd still end up having to haul material to the chipper shredder, and/or hauling shredded chips away from it). I think of a chipper/shredder as the kind of machine where the high-quality models would be prohibitively expensive, while the affordable models would be poor quality and not worth bothering with. But maybe that's not true. I imagine that in the current economic conditions, there are bound to be some deals to be had. I'll start poking around on craigslist. It's another product category that I'm not especially familiar with. If you have any suggestions or advice about good or bad chipper/shredder models, or features that I should look for, I'd appreciate it. Thanks again for your help with all this. Here is a link that might be useful: a Bosmere yard bag for sale on alwaysbrilliant.com

Do a search of local garden centers, and start calling or emailing. When I was looking for pine bark fines, I just searched up a bunch of places, and sent them all emails. I got replies the next day and had my fines. Joe

Amazon does not offer their "free super saver shipping" on Miele vacuum bags. They do offer the free shipping on the "Miele style" vacuum bags. In answer to Nolamom's question, I do not recommend the non-genuine "Miele style" bags. They won't fit properly, and if anything happens to jam up your vacuum, the use of those bags may void the warranty (I am not sure). As already noted, the Miele vacuum bags and filters are the same price no matter where you buy them. Even if you save a few dollars in sales tax by buying online, your shipping costs will be greater than the sales tax. I myself get the bags and filters from my local authorized Miele dealer, and anyway, I kinda like dropping into the store occasionally to see what's new with the latest Miele stuff. Also, one time I had trouble removing one of the filters from my vacuum, and the store just did it for me, showed me how, and threw in the replacement filter gratis while they were at it. That's this ancient practice called customer service--remember how we used to find that everywhere?

What size bag are you looking for? Any store that sells cake decorating supplies should carry them. If you're using icing, you can also use a ziplock bag. Here is a link that might be useful: pastry bags on Amazon