Geri B

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I agree the plastic bags are getting thinner and thinner..........I think I will look into making a few of these shopping bags...I DO vaguely remember my grandmother using "shopping bags" along with the little wheeled pusher, since grocery stores were a few blocks away from home....now we need cars to get to shopping centers...........but anyway........my solution to getting those many thin plastic bags from my car (in the driveway) to the house......I have a kids red wagon in the garage, I open garage, get wagon, load from car and pull into garage-and unload there....U ask why not just pull car into garage....well, it is 2 1/2 car and it is pretty much used for "other" things.......overflow storage, a craft table, dog cages, workshop, etc.............I do now use those plastic bags for dog walks, cat litter boxes, small trash containers in bathrooms, bedrooms.........but I am willing to try using a shopping bag........Yes, it is true that in Europe many use those net type shopping bags, but they also go shopping almost daily-in the towns anyway, but those net type bags are great too.

matraina

We have a discount market here, "Marcs" that has the big, plastic bags 2/$1.00. They are plastic, though.

misskira

Tshirts make some of the cheapest, easiest, and most washable bags. There are many ways of making them. Knit fabric doesn't fray so all the edges don't even have to be finished.

siss

my mother showed me how to fold plastic bags that take up very little space.
lay the bag down and fold in the sides the way they were folded. then fold in half sideways. fold in half again sideways. you should have a long strip. then start at the bottom and fold bottom left corner over to right side. this should form a triangle. then just keep folding right side to left, left to right etc. until you get to the top. the loop of the handles should rap around your little triangle. this lays very flat and doesn't take up much room in your purse or pocket. should be about 4" x 2". hope this helps.

BellaBoo

I read that a concentration of bacteria in one place, the bag, is the concern. Machine washing after each use is too much hassle for me. I don't like doing laundry to begin with. I keep a long laundry basket in my trunk to unload the bags from the store. I take the basket in, unload, and return to fill it again. I do everything as simple and stress free as I can. I think it keeps me healthier. I know it frees up tons of time to be quilting!

Needles

You are getting ripped off by paying for plastic bags now. They are all biodegradable and simply fall apart in a year. Just try and use one to store something in. You will find your closet, cupboard or attic and confetti mess. I always ask for paper as I use them for many burnt brown bag crafts, paper ribbon baskets and always wrapping paper. They are also used in my waste paper baskets. No plastic in the landfill and I'm not wasting water by having extra laundry and fuller loads to wash cheap fabric bags that don't last 3 mo.

ghostrider

I don't like the plastic bags for environmental reasons, the fact that they're petroleum based, and because they spill all over my truck on the way home from the store. The reuseable bags are more than I am willing to bother with or waste energy on and there's just too much risk of food contamination.

I ask for paper bags, which don't jumble up my groceries or fall over going around a corner, and then reuse them for sorting the stuff I recycle, add them to the compost pile, use them to start lasagna gardens, take them to the food pantry for use by those who need food, just plain recycle them, make patterns for quilts, or any number of other things. I have no plans at all to change.

catmcclure

If you want to kill bacteria in the bags, you don't have to wash them every time you use them. You can put them in the microwave for a few minutes. That kills bacteria on sponges - and toothbrushes.

GrannieAnnie

I guess I'm just old fashioned. Soap and water are not a bother to me. Nor is running a load of dirty items thru the washer.

GrannieAnnie

I gotta do this------------think about this bacteria!

Where in your car do you put your groceries? In the seat? Who sat there last and what kind of germs did he/she have? Even worse, what if a dog's butt was the last occupant?

Do you put your groceries in the trunk? Where you put your trash on the way to the dump? Where you put the fertilize for the garden? Where you put the flat of spring plants?

And bacteria on a washable grocery bag makes you crazy?