Macmillan Holdings, LLC. Make It Green Girl, QDnow, and Quick and Dirty Tips are trademarks of Macmillan Holdings, LLC. And the winner of The Great Grocery Bag Debate is... sara sampleCategory it has taken me a few years (yes, years!) to get in the habit of toting reusable bags to the grocery store. but i have been persistent with myself. :) i bought many, many cheap reusable bags at my local grocery and keep a stack of them in my car, my husband's car, and in the house. having them already in the car means i can always run out and get them if i accidentally forget them at the checkout line. i also have a reisenthal tote basket i use for running to the library, quick errands, etc., which always goes with me -- to and from the car. http://greengirl.quickanddirtytips.com/paper-or-plastic.aspx ?commentid=16187#Comments http://greengirl.quickanddirtytips.com/paper-or-plastic.aspx ?commentid=16187#Comments Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:10:38 GMT Amy sampleCategory I really liked my S.H.O.P Totes for grocery shopping, www.shoptotes.com http://greengirl.quickanddirtytips.com/paper-or-plastic.aspx ?commentid=15770#Comments http://greengirl.quickanddirtytips.com/paper-or-plastic.aspx ?commentid=15770#Comments Tue, 17 Feb 2009 16:20:52 GMT Sninkle sampleCategory I laughed when you talked about the hassle when requesting no bag. Where I live (Canada) I've never had that problem. I always get asked for small items if I want a bag or not, and pretty much every store sells 'permanent' bags, and there aren't issues using them. I will admit though while I reuse our plastic bags (we have a collection at home and will recycle them now and then) I always forget the permenant bags when shopping. http://greengirl.quickanddirtytips.com/paper-or-plastic.aspx ?commentid=15436#Comments http://greengirl.quickanddirtytips.com/paper-or-plastic.aspx ?commentid=15436#Comments Wed, 21 Jan 2009 20:13:33 GMT Lauren sampleCategory Thanks so much for this cast, the bag issue is something a lot bigger than most people realize, I think. Though I’ve gotten weird/dirty/annoyed looks from clerks at the grocery store, I always use my canvas bags. I even have some cuter, more “hip” looking canvas bags for when I go clothes shopping. But wow, if I had a nickel for every time I’ve said, “I don’t need a bag,” I would be a rich woman! -Lauren Letstalkaboutlauren.blogspot.com http://greengirl.quickanddirtytips.com/paper-or-plastic.aspx ?commentid=13009#Comments http://greengirl.quickanddirtytips.com/paper-or-plastic.aspx ?commentid=13009#Comments Tue, 24 Jun 2008 15:12:34 GMT MissJubilee sampleCategory How about the Crutto bag for a handy re-usable shopping bag? http://www.superplanning.co.jp/e/e_products/e_crutto/e_pro_crutto.html It folds up into a tiny little pocket, and you could keep a handful in your car/purse/etc. I haven't bought any yet, but I have a friend who has several, and she says she knows she's done shopping at the market when they're full! We live in China, where plastic bags were just "outlawed" - the street vendors still give them out, but the supermarkets have to charge for them now. Sadly, it's the street vendor ones I always throw away, as they're too thin to reuse without getting holes. The supermarket bags are the ones I use for trash can liners because the trash bags sold here are also too thin! Ah, well. I wonder when they'll invent get recyclable trash bags? (Paper bags are unheard of here, and anyway wouldn't hold up to kitchen garbage.) I'm getting through that phase now of learning to take my bags with me (or forgetting and carrying home half a dozen items without one). And the stores are having to start trusting us to bring things other than wallets into the stores - usually you have to check everything before entering, but now you've gotta take your bags with you! http://greengirl.quickanddirtytips.com/paper-or-plastic.aspx ?commentid=12959#Comments http://greengirl.quickanddirtytips.com/paper-or-plastic.aspx ?commentid=12959#Comments Wed, 18 Jun 2008 13:03:31 GMT ruthablair sampleCategory I have a hard time remembering my bads if i'm out of my routine. But i hang them next to the rest of my recycling and use them to carry the plastic grocery bags that i acquire when i forget them. Then, my 4 year old has the job of putting them in the provided plastic recycling bins at the grocery store. http://greengirl.quickanddirtytips.com/paper-or-plastic.aspx ?commentid=12921#Comments http://greengirl.quickanddirtytips.com/paper-or-plastic.aspx ?commentid=12921#Comments Tue, 10 Jun 2008 19:41:04 GMT KM sampleCategory Here in Austin, TX a new fad (much to my delight) is the re-usable cloth bag. Our major grocery stores are selling re-useable bags with their logo for 0.99$ at the register. I see the bags being used for everything. I actually use one as my purse now and carry all of my daughter’s toys, etc. in them. The problem I face the most is remembering to take them to the grocery store, I'm getting better though. http://greengirl.quickanddirtytips.com/paper-or-plastic.aspx ?commentid=12908#Comments http://greengirl.quickanddirtytips.com/paper-or-plastic.aspx ?commentid=12908#Comments Mon, 09 Jun 2008 13:12:44 GMT Marleigh sampleCategory I've had good luck with bringing my own bag to the grocery store and handing that to the bagger and asking them to fill that first. http://greengirl.quickanddirtytips.com/paper-or-plastic.aspx ?commentid=12899#Comments http://greengirl.quickanddirtytips.com/paper-or-plastic.aspx ?commentid=12899#Comments Sun, 08 Jun 2008 10:38:27 GMT IO sampleCategory Wow, I never even thought about the impact of paper bags on the environment, but sure, the paper's got to come from somewhere... I usually go grocery shopping with my own bag, but that's very common in Germany where I live. People usually take their own baskets or bags and paper or plastic bags at the grocery store are actually charged for, so they encourage bringing your own bag and since we don't have baggers here, noone complains about the uselessness of their job ;-) Often, the boxes the goods were delivered in (I'm talking cookies and wine bottles, not dishwashers) are stacked near the checkout, so if I forgot to take a bag to work and on my way back I have to do some shopping, I just grab one of those boxes and carry my groceries home in those. I then use them to collect my waste paper. http://greengirl.quickanddirtytips.com/paper-or-plastic.aspx ?commentid=12891#Comments http://greengirl.quickanddirtytips.com/paper-or-plastic.aspx ?commentid=12891#Comments Fri, 06 Jun 2008 15:38:12 GMT Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:10:38 GMT http://greengirl.quickanddirtytips.com/paper-or-plastic.aspx feedback@quickanddirtytips.com (Managing Editor) feedback@quickanddirtytips.com (Webmaster) en-us