Yes, of course. I prefer the cotton ones to the plasticky ones from Traders, but I use those too because I have them. Big bags get too heavy, so I don't want those.

I have some in my car and did use at Trader Joe's yesterday. I have enough of the paper for a while - I do find uses for those around the house and like to have some handled paper bags on hand. Right now I'm trying to purge office and household paperwork and I've been filling those paper grocery bags so DH can burn out at the family farm, save me having to shred (which means save me time). I don't always think to carry my own when grocery shopping locally.

I have plenty of bags. Some I made, some bought. Hate when I forget to bring one into the store. But usually I bring in 2 and need 3!

We have had to bring our own bags since 2011. I have all kinds of different ones and keep them in the car. It took awhile to remember to bring them with me when I went shopping at first. Now it has become a habit. That means all stores, not just grocery stores. It felt weird to be taking one from some other store into Macys in the beginning. That is why all the stores in CA sell their own bags. Macys have giant ones. Free advertisng for them too.

99% of the time I do. I always have two of the cloth bags that fold up into their own pouches in my purse, so even if I do forget my regular shopping bags, at least I have two on me.

Occasionally I use them. The grocery stores here aren't set up very well for the cloth bags, it slows the checker down considerably. I would use them more often if I used the self-checkout lanes, but I tend to avoid those like the plague.

Rusty

Yes, for years. Two of mine are insulated, with zipper tops. You'd think a grocery store bagger would put frozen foods into those bags, wouldn't you? haha

On Maui you are expected to bring your own bags into every store, not just grocery stores. You see very few plastic bags cluttering the streets or blowing into the ocean.

Yes. On the very odd time when I forget and have to get plastic we do recycle them at home.

No, I don't.

caflowerlover's comment "we have had to bring our own bags...." is misleading. Some areas in California (I don't know if it's cities, or counties, or it could be a mix) require stores to charge for bags. Ergo, some people bring their own totes. The alternative is to pay for bags. In most stores, they're 10 cents and many stores are not enthusiastic about adding the charge. Trader Joe's is one that I think is deliberately inattentive - I rarely pay for bags there. Other stores may charge for one bag when they've used 4 or 5. Other stores say "the bag charge is already included in the price" and charge nothing. Others may offer a very small rebate off your bill if you've brought your own.

I don't like the clutter of keeping bags in the car and I don't want to lug my food in dirty carrying totes. The whole hoopla is a lot of effort for little benefit, it's a "feel-good but do-little" practice. I always ask for bags, always ask for paper (though many grocery stores "plastic" bags are compostable) and I don't give it a second thought. The charge is too small to pay attention to.

Yes, but they aren't cloth, they are heavy duty environmentally friendly plastic type bags that they stores here offer. It took me over a year to get into the habit of bringing them into the store with me. It was only at the checkout I'd realize I didn't have my bags with me. Rather than buy more bags, I'd end up putting all the loose groceries back into the cart, out to my car and bagging out in the parking lot. That hasn't happened in a long time as I've now formed the habit or remembering my bags.

I have the plastic/vinyl ones for Costco, they do not have bags at checkout.

I always take my own bags and have been doing this for more than 10 years. I have several that fold up very compactly (they are nylon), and will fit in a pocket. Ralphs will charge 10¢ for a bag, but I have not noticed this at other stores. We have some very colorful bags that we got in Copacabana that are very festive looking.

I'm glad I'm not the only one. No. I don't use them. I did buy one when I went to Aldi's the other day, but I found it to be very cumbersome. I do like to check my own groceries and so I bag my own and I very much like bagging like items together, but with so many different categories that I buy, I would have to take several bags and, no....I am not going to do that.

I bring my bags in when I go to Walmart for my bigger trips. I do wonder how much good it does after reading how many plastic bags it takes to equal the amount of energy to make each cloth bag. Would take years of weekly trips to make it worthwhile.

I keep them in the trunk of my car. I especially love the zippered insulated one from TJ's. I have probably had it at least six years.

"(Elmer you want to check into something to help with your OCD germaphobia. Do you only wear clothes once then throw them away because they are dirty?)"

Sorry to disappoint you but you couldn't have me more wrong.

Are brown paper bags, almost always these days made from some combination of cultivated/replanted forests, pulp waste or recycled paper, something you consider to be not environmentally friendly? Some could argue that the term "environmentally friendly plastic bag" is an oxymoron.

I love the people, often those emotional about the environment and demonstrative with others about it, get into their 15 year old polluting and inefficient cars or huge SUVs that usually contain just one person and drive away self-righteously. I'll speculate that my family does more in one week for the environment by driving late model cars that get > 30 mpg than a neighborhood of teary eyed do-gooders will do with cloth or plastic bags in a year. That's why I look at it as a feel good but do little effort. Make yourself happy, I do the same.

We also have bans on plastic shopping bags in various jurisdictions and a statewide ban is under review. So yes, I use them and I actually prefer them - they pack better and hold more than plastic and we do get charged for store paper bags at most grocery stores. It is NBD to have them in your car at the ready - I put mine back in the car as soon as they are emptied.

And the reusable bags can be washed so that is not an issue at all (and one I believe to be significantly overstated in the first place.......but then I am not a germophobe!).

Many other non-food retail outlets here have stopped providing any shopping bags at all. You are given the option of using no bag or providing your own.

Obviously, anyone who thinks it is all lot of hoopla for little to no benefit has not visited a landfill recently or walked along a beach or streamside. Compostible plastic, while a great concept, does not have a very wide marketplace yet.

I use the cloth bags nearly all of the time, and wash them regularly. I keep several in the car, both the large Aldi and smaller ones. I have a trunk organizer in my hatchback and stow them in one of its compartments.

I do have uses for both plastic and paper bags -- for example, I use plastic grocery bags for my non-compostable kitchen trash, and never buy plastic garbage bags. I generally get enough of those from the times that I forget to take in the cloth bags, or didn't take in enough.

One of my tricks to avoid buying too many impulse items at TJ's or Aldi is to not take a cart, but use my bag as my cart; when it is full or too heavy, it is time to check out!

I'm concerned about wildlife and plastic bags. Let's ban them all. Replace plastic bags in the produce departments with brown kraft paper bags. Ban reusable plastic tote bags and allow only brown kraft bags or cloth bags.

It can't be "my plastic bag is okay but yours isn't". Let's put an end to all of them.

I have also used them for years. Mine are made of synthetic fiber very much like the stuff ground cover is made of. Very sturdy, washable and easier for checkers than cloth bags. I have taken some with me on trips to Europe because you should try to buy a bag there. Stores sell them but you have to convince them you actually want one for real. They think you are mad to buy a bag. Why didn't you bring one with you?

I love that you can get so much more into the reusables and they are easier to carry. I do get plastic for my meat because it saves on washing the bags and I use those bags when cleaning out the cat boxes. I am not worried about germs as I wash my fruit and veg anyway.

I use reusable bags. Mostly the ones you buy or receive as freebies from the grocery stores but I do have a canvas bag. As Rusty pointed out the baggers don’t like them because they don’t stand up, so I mainly use it at self checkout. If I forget to take them in, no big deal. I reuse the plastic ones that aren’t torn for giving away produce, small non-compostible trash items, and other uses.

And I too wash ours regularly and air dry. I have a couple of insulated ones. In the south, those are much needed in the summer.

I am in CA and use reusable bags so as to not have to pay for them. They do make things at the check out a little slower. I buy plenty of rolls of bags to make up for all the freebies we don't get for trash anymore (though we still get them at some other stores like hardware stores and clothing stores when we shop there.)

The grocery stores in my area are not at all lenient in failing to charge for bags. You want a bag, you pay the .10.

The ones we have are washed on a regular basis, but one of the cashiers at my regular store was complaining about some of the filthy reused bags that she has to fill during her shift. She was telling me about one in particular where she opened the bag and a big cloud of cat hair flew out and settled on the bagging area. I love cats, but that is gross. I feel bad for the cashiers who have to deal with that sort of thing, it is not sanitary.

Yes I use cloth bags ALL THE TIME! :)

and this is why:

these are pictures of before beach clean up, and after, when turtles came back. But I have used reusable bags all my life. It's what I learned cause it was done, when I grew up in Germany.

I have a small cloth bag that lives in my car, that holds all my cloth bags except one that lives in my purse.

I ask friends that do not recycle (not totally sure, why some people can not be bothered to do either), and don't use cloth, to get some bags I can use in my trash cans (yes, my trash cans are small, after all, it's just me).

The best way, to always have your cloth reusable bags with you, store them in your car! :)

Moni

I use cloth bags. They used to give them away at Albertsons. I probably have a dozen. The handles make them easier to handle. I have one that's zippered and insulated for dairy. Not putting something into a landfill...yes, that's a plus.

Ban reusable plastic tote bags

I have the plastic/vinyl tote bags, one is insulated. If they banned ALL plastic bags I'd go along, and give mine up and buy some cloth ones, but since I have been re-using the same ones for a long time, it doesn't make sense to me to just throw them out now.

I used to use the "recycled" plastic bags and kept them in the van. Then I realized that the sun coming through the windows was degrading them. Having the bags split or the bottoms drop out I bought some cloth bags but find that they do not hold as much as the recycled bags. I just never seem to remember to put them back in the vehicle.

I am not trying to be argumentative....sincerely wondered...do all of your condiments come in glass bottles? Your milk? The rings around 6 packs of soda or beer, do you not have those? Your packages of frozen food.....is that plastic? I don't think anyone would ever accuse me of being insensitive to wildlife, but I would bet I have far less garbage than the average person. No food goes in the trash....and I use far fewer cans of anything than the average person. No paper goes in the trash. I am certain I have never contributed to the death of a sea turtle. We have turtle exclude devices on our shrimp boats...and in over 55 years shrimping, my husband has never caught a turtle. If I use a plastic bag, it does not go in a land fill. I realize where and how I live is far and away from the mainstream, but I just wonder what do you all do about the abundance of other plastic waste?

There is a new initiative called "Loop". Many big manufacturers have signed on and plan to have reusable packaging for almost everything in a grocery store in a few years. A photo illustrating the story I read showed a prototype insulated aluminum tub for Haagen-Daz ice cream. (That's Unilever, people! Big Business!) The concept is similar to milk bottles of old where empty bottles are picked up from your home, washed, and reused.

I'm wondering if robots are going to be involved in the pickups.

Before the California law which is ridiculous and has nothing to do with saving the planet or the oceans (or they would be selling the bags) I reused both paper and plastic bags many times over but never for groceries. I used them for everything lining my waste bins, shoe over when traveling,walking the dogs, protecting items from dust, etc. The new environment friendly (nonsense) plastic bags are too bulky for many of those repurposes,

So I buy the t shirt bags by the case at Amazon. They cost me 2 cents each or less and I keep a zip lock baggie full in the side pocket of my vehicle. When I shop I take a few in put them in my pocket. No way am I toting a bulky, stinky cloth bag to do my shopping. It's disgusting what I see people using to carry their food home in. I don't believe for a moment most people are washing their bags. These re the same people on the floors of public restrooms. They are the same people who bring their fake service (emotional support dogs) in and let them ride in the cart or even worse kids old enough to walk with dirty feet and pants sitting in the food basket area. People are pigs.

We create very little actual household waste. Our large recycling cart gets fuller than our small garbage cart. Those t shirt bags are just right for taking out daily household garbage that isn't recyclable.

I have a number of the (intended) single-use plastic ones, some of which I try to keep in the car, and a few of the heavier ones, "made from recycled water bottles", which I use occasionally. I drink water from the tap: more heavily regulated and less cost.

But - for all of those plastic ones - the plastics break down into tiny pieces, small enough to run through the filters in the sewage plants, I hear - to choke the fish.

But I think that the plastic retains its characteristics for a long time (longer than I'll be gardening - or even here), not breaking down into the component nutrients that my veggies can use. So please don't offer them to me for my compost pile.

I have several of the cloth ones and like to use them: they're sturdier.

In summer I like to get some of the cardboard trays that bring produce to the stores: some stores used to pile empty cartons near checkouts, but have stopped doing that, but the stockers let me have the trays when I ask. They are great for hauling veggies to the churches, social agencies, etc.

When I, a frugal fella living alone, have just a couple of items and the checkout person asks whether I need a bag (5 cents at grocer's and some others) I say that I have two packages, and two hands - I think I can take care of getting them to the car.

ole joyful

Here are some bags from Ghana that we bought at farmers' markets:

These are fun bags to carry at the farmers' markets, but we do not take these to stores. One bag inside is lined, to help keep cold items (like fresh fish) cold, and it is waterproof.

I bought 12 bags online several yrs ago. They are 12x18 about 18 " tall too. They are heavily insulated, have a hard plastic bottom, and the top zips. I love them. I keep them in the car.

Marilyn, I'm trying, although, although it is hard to find things not in plastic. I'm back to using Tone bar soap. Used it years ago, it comes in boxes which I can recycle. I really hated all the plastic bottles of hand soap I used over the years. Even when you buy the big refills, those are huge bottles of plastic. I also went back to drinking milk from a carton instead of the plastic bottles I was using. Aldi's guacamole comes in boxes with plastic bags inside. Very annoying. Got quac all over my shirt last night trying to get it out of the bag. Why not put it in cardboard? I quit buying water in bottles too. I bought two aluminum water bottles and now fill them up at home and take them to work with me.

Here it became illegal for shops to supply single use shopping bags last June, though I used cloth bags for years before that.

Mine all get folded and placed into the insulated cold stuff bag and live in the boot/trunk of my car. When I unpack them after shopping they go by the door with my keys so they get put back for next time. I also have three lightweight nylon bags that fold up into a pouch in my handbag.

The main reason they were banned here is because how they end up in the sea and on the beaches. Personally I’d like to go back to paper bags for loose produce and no little plastic coffins of fruit and vegetables in the supermarket as well.

I have a bunch that I try to use all the time but still I end up with plastic bags at the house? What I find is that grocery store check outs are just not set up right to use them. I have put carabiners on the handles of my bags to hold them up so they can more easily be filled. I hook the handle over the top of my shopping cart so that the bag is sitting opened and easier/faster to fill instead of constantly flopping closed, which was driving me crazy! At Walmart self check out, they only have a tiny little platform to set bags on and you cannot move them into your cart as you fill them because it will throw up a red flag. So there is hardly any room to set two large shopping bags at a time.

Lars I have two shopping baskets very similar to yours.

But I also have the cloth bags. There is hardly any plastic coming in my house. 95% of my cooking is from scratch, so not much plastic packaging. It is going to be interesting how long it will take me to fill the recycle bin. I purposely put it out for pickup at the end of last year, as I am living by myself again now.

But my compost pile is growing,

Moni

Edited to say: I feel somewhat "attacked", because of the turtle and trashy beach picture I posted. I actually considered taking my replies down....

maybe my skin is a bit thin today?

I am against plastic bags, because there is an easy alternative. A lot of the other items that come in plastic one can not avoid.

I also realize, most people here are caring for the environment, and thus, are not the kind that litter all over. I guess, I should not have posted the picture, then I would not have felt attacked?

There is a new initiative called "Loop". Many big manufacturers have signed on and plan to have reusable packaging for almost everything in a grocery store in a few years. A photo illustrating the story I read showed a prototype insulated aluminum tub for Haagen-Daz ice cream. (That's Unilever, people! Big Business!) The concept is similar to milk bottles of old where empty bottles are picked up from your home, washed, and reused.

Chisue has it. This is where to put the pressure - big business. Whatever we do as individuals can be helpful but it often ends up (as it has in posts above) in people shaming each other for what they are or are not doing. The change that will really make a difference is in big business. Years ago in Germany, customers started taking merchandise out of the packaging and leaving the excess packaging on shelves. This forced some businesses there to rethink packaging, so instead of recycling or reusing packaging, there was less produced and less used which is 100x better than having to recycle or reuse.

So, doing what you can as individuals is good, but putting pressure on big business is what can really make a difference.

Where I live we have recycling pickup weekly with our garbage. For pickup we separate out into individual containers compostibles, newspapers, cardboard/nonnewspapers, glass/tincans/plastics including plastic bottles and then general garbage. We also separate out plastic bags, batteries, lightbulbs. which we take to the recycling center 10 minutes away from us.

Yes. I have for years. I have quite a collection. I do not care whose name is on them when I go into a store. I have not had great experiences using them at Wallyworld. Luckily I don't shop there much. They sit in the back end of my car so I grab the when ever I head into the store. I have never had a reason to consider washing them.

I'm all in whenever the powers that be decide to completely ban one time use plastic. We've already started moving that way when possible. As Kathsgarden pointed out, it's nearly impossible to find products like shampoo, conditioner, lotion, etc., that aren't sold in plastic containers.

The Loop initiative that chisue mentioned is a huge step in the right direction. I've often wished that we could take our empties back to the store and refill them. Those one use bottles are in perfectly good condition once empty and there it is a crime not to use them over and over.

Moni, I found your photos interesting and hopeful. Don't for one minute feel bad about posting them. It's a very odd thing. Those of us who use cloth bags or reuse plastic ones to carry our purchases are harming no one and may be doing some good, yet some seem to feel the need to scold us for it like we're offending them in some way for our efforts. I don't get it...why can't those who don't want to use or don't agree with using cloth bags just do their own thing and leave those that do to do theirs?

I often chat with the checkers about the bags, it comes up when I ask for plastic for my meat and they are pretty much all supportive of reusables. A big plus is being able to put so much in them. They seem to like that. One person actually mentioned the cleanliness issue(not my bags though) and I did point out that you have no idea who had been handling your packaged goods already and who doesn't wash their fruit and veg? She was illuminated as in oh I see, you are right. I see lots of people using them and don't see anyone with filthy bags. My most often used grocery store sells the sort I use for about a dollar. They replace for free when they wear out which for me mean ripping one by accident. I am bad to use them for other purposes.

Moni, people need to see those pictures. In desert pictures you see them in the brush and trees. Bad.

"I feel somewhat "attacked", because of the turtle and trashy beach picture I posted. I actually considered taking my replies down...."

Moni, not at all. Your photos were dramatic and informative, and very appropriate.

I agree Mona, good photos is Elmer says above.

I keep forgetting to bring the cloth multi use bags to the grocery store. I like paper and recycling, but sometimes we end up with a lot of the plastic shoppers. We recycle the plastic shoppers and all clean plastic film (clean plastic wrap, shipping plastic film, washed plastic film) regularly at the boxes outside the grocery stores. I don't know how they recycle the plastic film at shoppers but maybe I will look into it sometime. I sometimes use one or two for very gunky waste that I don't want to stink up my trash toter for the garbage people.

We wash and dry all glass and plastic containers for food or beverage, and we recycle these appropriately. It is important that people keep anything that goes into the plastic recycling clean because apparently just a bit of unwashed plastic material can contaminate a whole lot of recycling goods, making them on usable or fouling up the works.

We throw very little away – that is into the garbage toter. We can compost some material, and bones skin etc. can be given to select critters.

We always wash our produce, and I even wash off the outside of a plastic milk jug and similar items because I don't know where they've been and I don't want bacteria add it to my refrigerator.

EDit. I suppose there will always be slobs and thoughtless people, but I am glad to see a lot of people paying more attention to what they buy and discard, and how. we also recycle alkaline batteries.

Moni I also found the post/pictures helpful. No need to take them down.

I use reusable bags and plastic bags that I've used for years. Plus I use grocery store boxes in a pinch. I never buy bags. I just pack at the car if I forget to bring them in with me most of the time. We bag our own groceries at Superstore which is where we primarily shop.

I wash my bags after every use if meat is in it Every other time for the other bags. I once read that no matter what you buy they are not clean which is why it is suggested to rinse or wash everything, even your skin on fruits and veggies.

I order my groceries online and pick them up. It is ideal for me. They use large paper bags. I get between 13 and 18 bags per visit.

Here the supermarket has metal stands with a sort of hook in the top centre. The cloth bags (and the old plastic bags for that matter) have a corresponding loop in their top centre that hooks onto the stand which holds it up and open for the checkout person to pack your groceries.

The bigger supermarkets have a rotating stand with space for four bags (and extras waiting on the top) so that as the bags are filled the checkout person turns the stand and you can take your full bags off the other side and put them into your trolley.

The self checkout allows you to remove bags from the bagging area after a certain time. They used to have a button to press to indicate that you were getting a new bag but now even that isn’t necessary.

I was out on a bicycle ride today. It is very windy here, with stronger wind predicted for tomorrow. This is when we get more of this:

I have never understood, why we have such unsightly sights.

Yes, I know, most people her at this forum don't contribute to such... but I also know, if plastic bags would be no longer available, this part of trash blowing would cease. This is, why I am so adamant about using a re-usable bag.

Moni

I have been using the reusable bags for years. I have a nylon bag that folds up into a small pouch and that stays in my purse. I also have one that stays in the pocket of the drivers door of my car. Those I use when shopping at stores for items other than groceries. I have a large zippered reusable bag that holds all the bags used for groceries. I wash the bags about twice a month. If I purchase meat I ask that it all be packaged together in one or two plastic bags at the checkout counter. Those bags get rinsed out, dried and used for lining the bathroom trash can.