Lately, we’ve been dating at Safeway. I flirt with him in the produce aisle. I can’t help it, he’s really cute when he’s cost comparing produce.
The day after I put up my post on eco-friendly detergent, my mom (who reads this blog, everybody wave!) said to me, “You know what you do that is hard on the environment? You use plastic bags.”
It was one of those moments where, by the skin of my teeth, I was actually ahead of her question. But only by a few hours. “No, no, Mom. WAY ahead of you! Detergent was last year’s resolution to make the planet greener. This year it’s plastic. I want to be plastic free by the end of the year, so to accomplish this I ordered reusable bags yesterday. They should be here any moment.” Whew, that was close.
“Not that ahead of me. I made my own bags ages ago, ” she quipped back. Turns out, being the crafty sort with mad sewing skills, she cut down a plastic bag to use as a pattern and made her own.
However, I’m not that crafty. No, not really. I knew I wanted bags of nylon because canvas bags are itchy, but I’ve sewn on nylon before to no good end. That old expression “slicker than snot” has got nothing on nylon. As we’ve established, making the planet green shouldn’t be so painful. The very thought of sewing on nylon threatened my sanity; so, I did the next best thing, I found a vendor.
Meet the Baggu. I’m going to direct you to the Baggu site for all the nasty business that is plastic. But you should read it. I knew plastic was a problem; but I’ll admit, I was ignorant about how MUCH of a problem. The Baggu site is terrific, full of information plus a fun interactive ordering page. You just pull down the color menu for each bag you’re buying and it will load the color onto the bag so you can see what you’re getting! Fun, right?
Sadly, it’s not just the grocery store that inundates us with plastic. A great deal of the plastic bags we bring home are recycled bags from all my thrifting trips. But the Baggu has me covered there as well. Many of the thrift stores I visit are short on plastic bags, so they appreciate the small effort on my part. Most grocery stores will pay you to bring your own bag, so get ready to add up those pennies. See, saving the planet and saving some change. Why didn’t I think of this sooner? You all are ahead of me, right?
As you can see, IZ and I jumped on the “Bring your own Bag wagon” and after much negotiation, picked out six we could both live with using. The Baggu colors are terrific, we even found a few not too “girly”; so this amazing guy, who will actually grocery shop with me, is willing to carry them. I’m not sure I know what a “girl” color is, I just know that everything I’ve ever made has him feeling ridiculous about using. I promised years ago not to become one of those women who foist their outrageous purses onto their spouse while shopping, “Here, honey, hold this.” I think it was right after I said, “I will cherish forever” and right before I said, “I do!” That promise should probably extend to grocery bags, don’t you think? And since they don’t sport any advertising, I don’t feel weird about walking into a store. Call me silly, but I’ve always felt a wee bit sheepish hauling out a Costco bag at Safeway. Yes, that’s right, I shop at your competitor. Um. . .awkward. Anyhow, everybody’s happy. See, easy!
Needless to say, we are thrilled with our new bags. They are well made, easy to tote, and as a side benefit are a terrific deterrent to Alzheimer’s. Remembering to keep them in the car is pressing our gray matter in healthy ways. It’s probably the hardest part of using these bags. Not much of down side, when you think about it. Oh, sure, we get a few arched eyebrows from the checkers who discover that nylon is indeed slicker than snot, and using the self-checkout is tricky. But, then we were already getting silly grins for getting caught kissing on the closed caption cameras in the pharmacy aisle. At least we aim to entertain.
Which really leaves only one question. I Baggu, do you?
I have bought a selection of the “advertising” bags and I never, ever remember to use them. Soooooo irritating. Is it too late for my gray matter?
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Oh, please, you’re not old… it’s never too late, is it?? 😀 ~W
I try. I’m not so hot at remembering at the grocery store. But I have 6 awesome reusable bags from IKEA that I adore and use for lotsa things.
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I know, the remembering thing. HARD. We have six of these and rarely use them all since they hold so much, usually there is at least ONE in the car at all times. But, it’s not like we remember to take them into the store! ~W
I do 🙂 Well, not Baggu…but that’s a fantastic option. I also found a great suggestion to make mesh produce bags out of sheer curtains (so you can still see the checkout code) but am afraid to sew such slippery fabric. But those produce bags drive me nuts- there’s abolutely no way to reuse them.
Yes- the remembering. It ‘s a problem. I also need a carry bag for my vehicle which I lose EVERY. TIME. I go shopping.
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Yeah, I’ve seen the produce bag thing and it’s on my list of things to tackle. You’re right, those things are POINTLESS. With a produce bag, you really need it to be light, otherwise, you’ll end up paying a whole lot more for produce than you planned. ~W
I keep my reuseables in the front passenger seat of my car. I unload and go right back out to the car. Otherwise I would probably forget them.. I leave the house in a rush most of the time.
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Ah, go back to the car! There’s a thought. 😀 The last time we left, I literally left them sitting on the floor in the middle of the hall. STILL didn’t remember to pick them up. ~W
we have 2 canvas green bags (http://www.ecobags.com/Set_of_5_-_GreenBag_Standard?sc=2&category=109). i realized they hold SO much. i got $60 worth of groceries (granted…all cardboard boxed items, and cans..) into just the 2 bags. my only issue is, what do i do with them while grocery shopping??!? i’m paranoid about keeping them in my front part of the cart (and that was when i only had 1!!) because i don’t want someone to make off with them.
i’m sure i’m just being a worrier, though. 😛 when i got my El Camino, i told my boyfriend i was paranoid about putting things in the back, lest someone steal it out of the bed at a red light. his reponse? “what!? this isn’t anarchy in the UK or anything..”
haha. so maybe the rampant canvas bag stealers are just my imagination.
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Anarchy in the UK… he must be thinking about the Parliament! I will say, the Baggu is great for this. They are so lightweight, that they fold down to almost nothing and you can easily tuck several into your purse. 😀 ~W
I like those bags! I make my own out of recycled fabrics and sell them on Etsy, but because they are lined they can be a bit bulky, (very strong though!) I might have to get some of the nylon ones. Thanks for the link.
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Ahh… etsy. Yeah, I made market bags last year and they sold really well on my site. But they were so, so, so floral. I will say, that the Baggu is really transportable! Personally, I wish I had a gocco printer… I’d be tempted to print cool things up on them. I’m actually surprised someone hasn’t done that yet. ~W
You two are adorable 🙂
Thanks for the link! Finding reusable bags was actually on my to-do list, so this is an answered prayer… or atleast a check off the list!
(Another plus is they are actually affordable! Normally, anytime I see something is going to help the environment I brace myself for a HEFTY price tag. I was pleasantly surprised to find out I wasn’t going to have to get a second job to help save the planet!)
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Yeah, they ARE affordable. I was surprised. And they are very GREEN themselves, so no worries about that. ~W
W~
Thanks for making me think about the plastic. I actually have so many paper bags saved, I should just reuse those till they tatter. We can make a difference, right?
~Kim C.
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We can make a difference! 😀 ~W
I do not…yet. What a marvelous idea! I actually encourage people to bring in their old plastic grocery sacks and reuse them in the shop…it saves me money all while saving the environment a little more…
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You must!! These are so cool. 😀 Actually, Sadira, what if you got some and had Snap Snap printed on them and sold them in your store?? 😀 ~W
Ashley and Dan have similar bags. I line my garbage cans with the plastic bags so I sort of recycle. If I get into this, I would just unload the bags then put them right back in my car. (the back end or the trunk) That way I would always have them with me–no forgetting!
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It’s worth getting into, I think. 😀 ~W
I have big ugly Top Foods (a local supermarket) that I bought for 99 cents each and while quite useful and reusable, I don’t like using them anywhere else.
Thanks to your suggestion, I bought 6 Baggu bags in: olive and lime and saffron and peacock and hunter and sky and I’ll put three in Leonard’s car and three in mine so they will be ever handy.
The biggest challenge is developing a routine of returning the bags to the car and remembering to take them out when we head in to shop. I’m doing better with the Top Foods bags and I think these will be easy to remember.
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Yeah, it is routine. I’m sure that once we get into a habit, it won’t be an issue. My Baggus took almost 3 weeks to arrive, just so you know. But they’re great! I really like how portable they are. ~W