Wednesday, February 20, 2008

grocery bags

ever since reading about how ireland's basically eliminated plastic bags there, the sleepy environmentalist/idealist in me has been yawning, stretching, and mulling it over... the example of a government actually enacting large-scale positive change without too much pain is the exciting part, but the little mental voice that says couldn't i? is back. (watch out, next thing you know i'll be back to my old vegetarian hippie ways...)

these aren't the cheapest, but they look neat. anybody have any experience habitually using cloth shopping bags? recommendations on features that wouldn't be apparent to a newbie but become awfully apparent after a few weeks hauling the things around?

5 comments:

Amberlynn said...

My Sis-in-Law made me this adorable cloth bag. It was too big for a purse, and I soon realized it was excellent for shopping. It is sort of rectangular, with a removable covered cardboard inset in the bottom - great for stability and being able to pack things in there well. Plus, I can remove it when the bag needs washing, or pull it out and replace it if it gets worn out. The bag is denim on the outside with a fun crazy print liner. I love it!

kait said...

i hadn't thought about how much having some structure in a shopping bag helps -- that's basically why i like the big paper bags the local organic market uses! thanks for the tip.

Robin said...

I have a mesh bag I use sometimes. I like it because it folds up small but holds a lot and is quite strong. True, it doesn't have structure, but I'm used to that.

Shannon said...

You can buy reusable bags at Kroger for 99 cents. They're stamped with the Krogger logo but cheap and supposedly hold twice as much as plastic bag. They also have a cardboard structure for support. I bought one and keep forgetting to bring it back with me...

Shannon said...

he he. i can't type. Krogger makes it look like Kroger and Frogger had a baby.