5 cents for a plastic grocery bag? Any easy patterns recommended?
 

My DS lives in the PNW and is charged 5 cents for each plastic grocery bag every time he shops! Does anyone know of a bag pattern that is quick and easy, but would be good for groceries? He eats a lot of fresh produce (dunno if they charge for those bags, yet). I'm thinking the bags should be able to be reversed, so they could be used more than once before washing. I know the pollution arguments for not using plastic, but now he'll be using water, detergent, and energy to wash these bags. Sometimes what seems to make sense...doesn't.

Where we live, our local grocery store sells sturdier bags for ~$1. They're re-usable and never need to be washed. They're made out of stronger material that can hold a lot more groceries. If you send me a pm with his address, I'd gladly send him a few. They come in fruit pics and beautiful colors. Some were sold temporarily in halloween pumpkin designs!

I think I would buy one of the bags that the grocery store (or Wally World) sells. Take it apart and use it for a pattern.
I must have 30 bags that I have collected over the years in my trunk.

Lynn

Here's a link with several patterns:

http://tipnut.com/35-reusable-grocer...free-patterns/

They are cheap in the store usually only $1. Trader Joes sells the best ones. If he keeps one special for meat he shouldn't have to wash them often at all. Some of them are made of waterproof material and can be washed in the sink. If you want to make them, I would suggest oilcloth.

There is one on craftster that is the same shape as the plastic bags. It makes a good sized bag.

http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=177482.0

I made grocery bags from old jeans. The bigger the waist size the better around 44"- 48" makes a good size and men's have bigger pockets. They are washable and sturdy. I carry 2 gallons of milk in one all the time, I made mine about 5 years ago. Take the jeans and cut straight across a little above the crotch, I sew the zipper and waist closed. Then turn them inside out and sew the curve of the front seam straight and you can trim the bulk out. Then sew the bottom shut, I sewed the seam twice, then zz with a narrow tight stitch then went back over with a wide zz stitch. Lay one of the legs out straight and trim off the seams, fold in half and half again, the front and back make 2 handles. Sew the handles to the bag, I did a square and then an x to make them sturdy. If you want longer handles belts from a thrift store work well.

For me, paying the .5 is cheaper then washing all the bags and less hassle. Re used shopping bags have to be washed or sprayed after every use so the bacteria won't build up from various food packages/produce. A research showed reused shopping bags are full of bacteria after a few uses without cleaning.

no big deal. they just go in the wash with the kitchen towels

We are not charged for the plastic grocery bags here. I re-use them to 'scoop the poop' in our cat's scoopable litter box. I do have some bags I use when I go to ALDI for groceries as they charge for their bags. I keep a couple in each vehicle. They were given out free at something or other that we attended.

Here's another link with pics of the bags.

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=...741F58&first=1

another link

http://pinterest.com/search/?q=grocery+bag+tutorial

Our local Aldi store sells plastic bags for 10 cents apiece and 5 cents for paper. They sold some "green" canvas bags for awhile, though, and I just bought those for a dollar apiece. They're reusable and sturdy and work for me. :D

When I go shopping...about once a month for a large shopping list, I end up with 10-15 bags of groceries. I then reuse the bags for trash can bags or donate to my library. Also, my Krogers have "recyclable bins" to bring back your plastic bags. Somehow, I just can't see me hauling 10-15 bags to the grocery store...just my opinion!!

I agree, sometimes we can cut off our nose to spite our face in the "green world"!!

Why can't you wash the plastic bags in soapy water and reuse them? I bought a bunch of bags that I use, but I use the vegetable bags to wrap my meat before I put it in my bags. I wash my bags after a couple of uses, but I don't get anything on them because I wrap everything in vegie bags that can leak.

At least 30!! My other half works for Meijer so we get new ones each time a different design comes out. Our friends know that we are big into recycling so they actually buy us a bag when they travel. We have them from all over the states!!! (and St. Croix!)

Me too! I can't see me walking in the store with an arm full of bags and keeping them in the cart with the groceries. I don't buy a few items at a time. That's a waste of my time. When I grocery shop, I shop to stock.

You eventually get in the habit of taking the bags in with you. I take a bag into every store I go to, not just the grocery store. Now, I'm not saying I don't forget the bags in the car sometimes because that does happen. I do re use the plastic bags from the stores as garbage bags too so I get lots of use out of them. If I get a big supply of them, I will take them to Meijer and put in their grocery bag recycling bin.

Also, I have read that several cities are going to the practice of charging for each plastic bag due to the large amount of littering of the bags. A nickle might not mean much to some of us but to some people it is everything.

I live in the PNW, and as of August in the city I live in, stores cannot provide plastic bags or they will be fined. We have to take our own reusable bags. If we don't remember them, or don't have enough and need a bag, the stores can provide paper bags, but have to charge us 5 cents for them. The hardest part is remembering to take bags with me when I go to the mall. I'm used to it at grocery stores, but not when shopping at the mall. We have used reusable bags for a long time, but I don't like being told I have to. Sometimes government goes too far.

Many places in California have outlawed the plastic bags and charge .10 for paper. I just know I have to take in my bags, I even use the lingerie laundry bags for produce. The plastic bags end up in the environment and are harmful to the wildlife. They eat them and it kills them. Bags are easy to make from an old t-shirt. http://www.vanillajoy.com/tutorials/...t-bag-tutorial

oh my, how did our ancestors ever handle this mess? ;-0
seriously, people, it's no big deal.

We don't have to pay for plastic or paper bags, yet. We reuse the plastic bags for trash bags. If we didn't use them that way, we would have to buy trash bags. Why are plastic bags sold for trash or food storage use ok for the environment, but not plastic grocery bags? That doesn't make sense to me. Just sayin'. :):):)

I have heard that the bags that the stores sell for groceries (those clothy type bags with the handles) should not be used for groceries, especially vegetables. They hold bacteria and germs and washing them is not good, because they are not made for washing. I use the plastic bags to put my vegetables in (the ones you pull off the roll in the produce dept) and then I buy a box for carrying my groceries in. Our Roundy's or Cub have cardboard boxes I buy for carrying the groceries in. A box will last a couple of years if not more and works really great. I suppose if you bag your fruits and veggies in the plastic bags and then put them in those cloth bags, it may work. I don't. I have to scrub veggies enough without having to worry about a cloth bag that holds bacteria and makes me feel like I am taking coals to Newcastle. Easy-peasy for this old lady!!!!!!!! I use my cloth grocery bag for carting fabric around or taking it to Hancock or JoAnn's to bring home my sinful stash!!!!!!

At our age and with a husband with no spleen, I refuse to use anything that can hold bacteria and a depressed immune system is nothing to mess around with. You can always double a paper bag!!!!!!!! Edie

google bags made from cat food bags....easy, very strong, and you do not need to launder. I love them and have made nearly a dozen for family and friends. email me if you need more info.

Thanks for the link. :)

Thanks for all the input. WOWSER! I'll check out the links. Since my DS has a cat, the cat food bags are an appealing idea. The reason I'd like to make the bags is that some of the ones sold at the grocery store were tested. Since most of them are made in China, the laws for lead are different. The printed ones had an abundance of lead, and having been a teacher, I know all the stats on effects of lead on the brain. I dunno about the ones that look like oilcloth that are sold at the stores. So, I'm thinking that sifting through all the ideas here willl be a help. Groceries are purchased almost every day, so needing many, many bags isn't the issue. Thanks for all the help. Off to check the links. Thanks, friends!!

Oh my, oh my. This is not complicated. Of course you can wash the bags sold at Walmart and grocery stores. I have done it many many times and they come out great. As for the young lady who can't see herself going into the store with an armful of bags, as you unpack your groceries at home, fold each bag and then place all the folded bags into one bag. When you get to the store just grab it and go. The only bag that needs washing is the one with meat in it.

Check out the Morsbags website

http://www.morsbags.com/html/

I have made these to give away with a local group. There are instructions on the site to make the bag.

Have fun!

Thankfully we're not charged for plastic shopping bags... yet. I actually reuse all mine. Won't find any of them in a land fill or tangled in the fence line. But, we do live in the country and have a burn pile.

Here's a bag I made from a feed sack. It's great for hauling my quilting supplies to our weekly handquilting group.

I've made bags and I've used the 99 cent ones they sell. As cute as homemade bags are, they don't stand up to hold the groceries in the car, and if you make them so they do, they take so long and use so much stabilizer, you'd go through a whole lots of 5 cent bags before you got to the amount they cost. Why not save the 5 cent bags and reuse THEM?

This site has a pattern I've used. http://www.morsbags.com/ I made these for a crafts fair a couple of years ago out of men's shirts and sheets. They were a big hit.

I lived in Poland during the 80's and most stores did not have plastic grocery bags (only for produce), so people would use net bags that would expand with the things that you put in them. I am so used to having a bag or something with me, that it's second nature to me to tell the cashier "no bag, please" Did you know that Target will deduct 5 cents off your bill for not using a bag? And CVS pharmacy has a card that you swipe when not using a bag and you will get $1.00 in extra bucks for every 4th swipe? (of course, the card costs $1 to buy, but you get the money back).

Since I usually ride my bike to the stores and don't really buy a lot at one time, I put everything I buy into my backpack
and go on my way.

Since I'm not the only one who shops, we do accumulate quite a few of those plastic bags. I reuse those bags when I take the dog for a walk and when I clean the cats' litter box. We purposely have small cans in the bathroom and bedrooms and the plastic grocery bags are used for that as well.

I'm all about recycling and repurposing as much as I can.

Really nifty. How did you affix the straps?

30 years ago someone gave me a lot of jeans fabric. I made large grocery bags out of them. They are still going strong. Why do grocery bags HAVE to be washed very often? Mine don't get dirty, but if something spills in it, I'll wash it. All the cashiers at our store know us when they see our bags come out. Just make a pillow case shape, as wide or as long as you want, and then turn the corners on the bottom toward the bottom center and stitch down. Make straps and enclose them in the top hem, stitching twice for strength. I also reinforce the side seams. No rips in all these years. You don't need to buy a pattern for that.

Yeah that's the way I look at it. Or with my sheets if they don't run or with the bathroom towels. Whatever one has to wash things anyway

I make tote bags from old pants and skirts and just remenants. They are completely washable and will not cut and break like the fabric (@@) bags the stores cell. Some are lined and some are not. Easy to toss into the washer when something spills or leaks or they just get soiled from dragging around. Over the years, I've made probably 200 of them.

The last 4 I made were from a chunk of drapery fabric that I inherited. Only need about 2/3 of a yard to make one if the fabric is heavy enough.

There are gobs of tote bag patterns available. Mine only have straps (usually from the same fabric) and then boxed bottoms.

Take almost no time to make them.

That would work-----------maybe make a bit bigger, however. The store bags are useless in my opinion. If they get wet they tear. They can not be washed. And they will split if something with a sharp corner hits them.

I have almost 10 bags(the ones that I bought at the store). I love them. You can fit so much more in them and I love being able to reuse them. I wash them whenever I need to make a full load of laundry. Hopefully, I get around to making some more. I want to make them out of home dec fabric. I like using them because I would rather have less bags and they are full than 50 plastic bags with three things in it. It makes it fit nicer in my little car too. :)

I cut mine longer than you do. About 20" from the waist. Then cut the crotch seam more or less straight so I can make a center seam. I use leftover leg fabric for the handles.

I have a problem getting stuff into the house. I can handle a few heavy bags, but I can not handle a bunch of small bags that split and break and drop stuff under my car. I once bought 43 items that were put into 31 bags. I can't handle that. 4 of my shopping bags would have held every bit of it.

I just throw the bags in the washer with other kitchen stuff and I'm ready for the next shopping trip.