Shopping & Bags

[ditzyscrap]

OK...so...just a random thread, lol...and poll.

Yesterday at the grocery store, they started charging for plastic bags. 5 cents a bag. Up until now there's only been one store that has ever charged for bags (Superstore)...the store in town is a smaller branch of it (Extra Foods).

So anyway, we ended up buying some reusable canvas bags because of the principal of having to pay 5 cents for each bag (which are WAY smaller and break easier). Plus we have like millions of plastic bags in our house...they make me crazy. I was considering buying a couple of the plastic tote boxes too, but didn't have the cash for it - I probably will on payday, though.

I get why they do it, though. Though the baggers tend to underpack the bags, like 1 loaf of bread in a bag, 1 bag of chips in a bag, etc. THAT makes me crazy too.

SO, my random question is...do you use canvas bags, plastic tote boxes, or just your groceries packed in plastic (whether or not you have to pay)?

[iJenny]

I voted for plastic *gasp*. Mostly because of the convenience. BUT... I'd like to add that I would *love* to use reusable bag (canvas, etc) if it weren't for the fact that I do my grocery shopping in bulk and would need about 15 totes for one shopping trip alone.

[Leila]

We still use the plastic bags because we can never remember to bring our canvas bags with us.

[Nonnie917]

Originally Posted by Leila

We still use the plastic bags because we can never remember to bring our canvas bags with us.

DITTO!!! So frustrating when you forget them.

[Paula]

We use reusable canvas bags that we keep in the car.

[mummytothree]

I voted reusable canvas...although I'm not sure they are actually canvas. They are whatever my Giant Eagle sells for their "earth friendly" bags!! I have about 30 of them and of course they cost a pretty penny but I guess every little bit helps and I hate those darn plastic bags

I also use boxes when I go to Sam's club since most of those huge things would rip my poor little reusable bags!!!

[mummytothree]

Originally Posted by ditzyscrap

I get why they do it, though. Though the baggers tend to underpack the bags, like 1 loaf of bread in a bag, 1 bag of chips in a bag, etc. THAT makes me crazy too.

I also wanted to add that we always pack are own to for this very reason!! Who wants to take more trips then they have to up a huge flight of stairs (we have an integral garage and it opens into our finished basement)

[lauren grier]

I have cloth bags.. my market had a promo going for a while and they were like 99 cents.. so I bought a billion of them lol.. before that I only had one or two, and it was a pita.

[jessica31876]

I use the reusable ones from the grocery store, boxes in some of the stores that do not have bags like Costco, Sams and B.J.'s and plastic bags in others so I picked other. (oh and jsut wanted to tell you that some of the grocery stores here are now charging for the use of a cart also)

[MelissaL88]

Originally Posted by jessica31876

oh and jsut wanted to tell you that some of the grocery stores here are now charging for the use of a cart also)

WTH?????

[jessica31876]

Aldi's (i think that is how you spell it) charges for the grocery carts I think a quarter? And five cents per bag. I believe you get the quarter back IF you return the cart to the stall area.

Originally Posted by MelissaL88

WTH?????

[MelissaL88]

Oh...and I use plastic bags.

[MelissaL88]

That's just wrong, Jessica.

[jessica31876]

I know I think so too. I think their explanation is it keeps the costs in the store down because they dont have to replace carts and people are more likely to bring them back into the store to get their quarter back. It is a discount grocery store though so it isnt like a huge chain at least down here it isnt. I do not shop there because they dont really carry much that I buy but my fil and mil shop there all the time thats how I know what they charge for LOL

Originally Posted by MelissaL88

That's just wrong, Jessica.

[newfiemountiewife]

Plastic because I use them in my garbage cans! Otherwise, I have to buy garbage bags too, so there's no difference, IMO.

[kresta]

Plastic -- we use them for dirty diapers! I only have one canvas bag and it's a red Target one. Would it be okay to bring that into a different store to use? I'd feel kinda weird about it. hehe :-)

[Penny Springmann]

I bought some canvas bags a couple of years ago and have used them since. My sister gave me a HUGE sturdy plastic bag at Christmas that I love! I can usually fit all of the groceries for the week in 3 bags. It's so much better than having @20 small annoying plastic bags.

[Lukasmummy]

Depends what we want Mark does most of the shopping and if he's only getting stuff I want he just puts it in his rucksack, when he gets things for Nan he has to use plastic carrier bags because she always wants things like washing powder and he ties them to the handle bars on his bike. When we do a massive shop we have to use plastic bags because otherwise trying to pack them into a taxi and then get them out on the other side is a nightmare. We reuse all the plastic bags in the house though for the bins around the house we have to seperate rubbish and recycling. I do have reusable bags but they mostly get used for storing toys lol. Trolleys have been pay to use for as long as I can remember you put a £1 coin or a shopping token in them and you get it back when you put the trolley back. I despise food shopping if there home delivery service didn't suck so much I wouldn't ever bother to go lol as it is I manage to get away with once a month and sometimes not even that often. Mark doesn't really exactly how much I love that he goes and picks up this or that on his bike lol. Hugs Crystal xx

[Nikki Epperson]

Originally Posted by newfiemountiewife

Plastic because I use them in my garbage cans! Otherwise, I have to buy garbage bags too, so there's no difference, IMO.

ditto -- well, for the bathrooms.

Also, on yard clean up day, the kids can hold those way easier than lugging a box around.

So, yeah, I get plastic, but I totally reuse them!

[emmasmommy]

I use plastic bc I use them for garbage bags too. Once they start charging for plastic I will buy the canvas ones and use those.

[lizzyfizzy]

we use reusable canvas sacks too. i get mad when i go for a short trip and forget to bring em.

[clearskies]

I use canvas bags most of the time. However, we use paper bags for our recycling, so when I run out then I'll "forget" my canvas bags for a trip...

[jaylensmom]

I use either plastic or paper but I need to buy some canvas bags...I'm trying to find some that are big enough to actually hold more than 2 or 3 items...

[scrapperjade]

We use the reuseable ones as often as we remember... but a lot of times we forget and we get plastic.

About the charging for carts - Canada has been doing that for YEARS at a lot of places. Safeway, Superstores, Sobey's, Zellars, Canadian Tire (like Home Depot)... Most places its just a quarter, but some places, its a full dollar. It doesn't bother me though, because you get the money back when you return the cart to the bay.

[ditzyscrap]

Originally Posted by scrapperjade

We use the reuseable ones as often as we remember... but a lot of times we forget and we get plastic.

About the charging for carts - Canada has been doing that for YEARS at a lot of places. Safeway, Superstores, Sobey's, Zellars, Canadian Tire (like Home Depot)... Most places its just a quarter, but some places, its a full dollar. It doesn't bother me though, because you get the money back when you return the cart to the bay.

LOL yeah...and if you're in the city, it's a great way to make money...go around and return all the carts people are too lazy to return.

ETA: It's only a pain if you don't have any change, lol...then you have to go into the store to the customer service desk and ask for a quarter for a cart. I hate that!

[tuneskids]

we use our own reusable bags. My brother started me out this past Christmas with 6 (along with a way to love the earth book - he's a hippie. hehehe). Since then I have added more bags to my stash, I think I have 15 now. I keep them in the car, that way I can't say I forgot them (I bring them in, unload them, and take them right back out to the car). When we go to Wal-Mart, I end up using just about every single bag I own too. hehehe Since I started using them faithfully, I haven't used a single plastic bag while shopping.

I also pack the bags myself 90% of the time, otherwise they don't get filled right. lol

Oh, and everywhere we shop, except Wal-Mart, you pay for the cart. You put a loonie in ($1 coin here in Canada), and you get it back when you return the cart. We actually have coins that are shaped like the loonies that we purchased at the grocery stores, we keep one in each vehicle, that way no matter who goes shopping, we always have a "loonie" for the cart.

[scrapperjade]

Originally Posted by ditzyscrap

LOL yeah...and if you're in the city, it's a great way to make money...go around and return all the carts people are too lazy to return.

Hahaha! So true! I remember doing that when I was like 10! If I found a cart and got a dollar I was in heaven! I did that once and then felt bad cause I found the cart IN the store, BY the bathroom. After I returned the cart and got my loonie, I realized that the person who owned the cart was probably in the washroom, haha! WHOOPS!

[ditzyscrap]

Originally Posted by tuneskids

Oh, and everywhere we shop, except Wal-Mart, you pay for the cart. You put a loonie in ($1 coin here in Canada), and you get it back when you return the cart. We actually have coins that are shaped like the loonies that we purchased at the grocery stores, we keep one in each vehicle, that way no matter who goes shopping, we always have a "loonie" for the cart.

Extra Foods used to sell those coins and it would attach to your keys (and then click off when you'd put it in), but stopped selling them once people were saying they were getting stuck in the carts. We have one that fell off it's keychain, and it stays in the car all the time for when we go shopping there.

[ditzyscrap]

I probably shouldn't be admitting this, lol...but when the dollar carts started coming in, it was said because it would cut down on theft of carts. So my friend and I went to the store, walked to the front of the corral and paid for the first cart so it would unhook from the bar at the front. Then we walked away with like 20 carts, lol. We didn't steal them, though...just pushed them onto the road...

[jessica31876]

cant do that in most places here because the carts wheels all lock so it will not move once it gets past a certain point in the parking lot. My son was pushing one across the parking lot the other day to put it in the cart area outside and it locked up on him. He was a good ways away from the edge of the parking lot too LOL

Originally Posted by ditzyscrap

I probably shouldn't be admitting this, lol...but when the dollar carts started coming in, it was said because it would cut down on theft of carts. So my friend and I went to the store, walked to the front of the corral and paid for the first cart so it would unhook from the bar at the front. Then we walked away with like 20 carts, lol. We didn't steal them, though...just pushed them onto the road...

[lauren grier]

Originally Posted by kresta

Plastic -- we use them for dirty diapers! I only have one canvas bag and it's a red Target one. Would it be okay to bring that into a different store to use? I'd feel kinda weird about it. hehe :-)

I have two target ones too.. :] I bring them to the market with me lol.. who cares ^_^

[ditzyscrap]

Originally Posted by kresta

Plastic -- we use them for dirty diapers! I only have one canvas bag and it's a red Target one. Would it be okay to bring that into a different store to use? I'd feel kinda weird about it. hehe :-)

We bought 4 from Extra Foods and I'll take those everywhere now, I think. I'll likely buy a few more from various places, but I don't think stores really care where you get the reusable bags from. Really, unless they're charging for plastic bags, you bringing your own bags saves them money in the long run.

[Sharon Kay]

I bought some canvas bags....but sometimes they don't make it back into the van before the next shopping trip (or dh empties the van to use it and for some reason can't stand to have shopping bags taking up that itsy bitsy lil bit of space)...or I forget to take them into the store

[kscwgirl]

Originally Posted by Leila

We still use the plastic bags because we can never remember to bring our canvas bags with us.

this is me too. Drives me nuts that I forget them all the time.

[aggiefamily]

I have a few but never remember them. The Target ones seem to be better quality than WalMart reusable bags. The best ones i got were from HEB around Halloween. They are kinda like oilcloth. Those suckers are strong!

[Sarah8914]

for our main big shopping trip, we use canvas bags. It's amazing--we can use 4-5 of those and it fits all of our groceries, sometimes even milk... whereas it would probably take 20 plastic bags!

for little trips we just use plastic bags that we then use in trash cans and for dirty diapers.

[pewtertm]

We use plastic...that's all that Walmart offers. We reuse some of them for pooper scooping purposes on dog walks as well as for cleaning the cat boxes. We drop extras off in the recycle box that they provide at the store.

[Jennilyn]

I just started using canvas bags last week for that very reason. They had them at 49 cents each so I got 10. Used them for the second time today!

[judet]

This was a big issue (well, at least the tv news made it out to be...) here in the UK last year I think and now pretty much everywhere either charges 5p per bag or you just have to ask, they don't have them out and available.

I've actually been really surprised at the difference it's made, nearly everyone seems to use them at the supermarkets I go to.

I personally think it's a bit of a red herring as far as environmental issues go. Yes, it's the right thing to do, but there are bigger issues even just in terms of industrial packaging waste. They are a hell of a lot easier to pack and carry though. And I think I've even got the hang of remembering to take the darn things with me!

[pameladonnis]

I still use the plastic at the store, although I would definitely think twice if they started charging. I think I would need like 30 canvas bags per trip! Maybe I should consider getting some though...

[DawnMarch]

we use something like this that we got from Costco. We love them -- they are washable and roomy.

http://kalynskitchen.blogspot.com/20...cos-great.html

And for those of you who forget, I carry one of these in my purse, it rolls and folds into a tiny little size and is REALLY light. I love it for those trips where I'm just running to the store for a few things.

http://www.envirosax.com/

[~Julie~]

We use plastic. I do use them for a bunch of things around the house. I plan on getting some of the reusable bags soon though. One store by my house charges 10 cents per bag.

[SmallMoments]

I voted other. I try to use reuseable bags. Mine aren't canvas, though... I'm not sure what they are. (Chico Bags) But I usually head to the store straight from school, so I never have my bags with me.

[Nettio]

Originally Posted by DawnMarch

And for those of you who forget, I carry one of these in my purse, it rolls and folds into a tiny little size and is REALLY light. I love it for those trips where I'm just running to the store for a few things.

http://www.envirosax.com/

I have a set of these and they're awesome. Plus they have a ton of fun prints! I really should get in a habit of using them more.

[Shawna]

I almost always use the reuseable bags, although there are times I forget to put them back in the van so I have to use the plastic bags but I always put those to use around the house. So far I have 10 Dillon's bags, 2 Walmart, 2 Target, 1 Walgreen's and a small Nature's Bounty bag; I've just been accumulating them whenever they are on sale and several of them I've even gotten for free with coupons. I need to pick up a couple more Target/Walmart bags since 2 is rarely enough lol!

I saw those Envirosax bags on the LifeasMom blog the other day and really want to get a set of those too!

[Stacey42]

I use canvas, synthetic, mesh, crochet thread and plastic. I have a variety of re-useable bags & use whatever happens to be in the car at the time. If I have none or forget to bring them in the store then I get the plastic ones and reuse them to line the garbage cans at home.

[scrapmonkey]

I primarily use a combination of the Envirosax and the reusable bags from the grocery store (although a few other stores have them). I do get a plastic or paper bag here and there, mostly for poop scoop duty and newspaper recycling.

[ajf9597]

I use plastic bags also, mainly for convenience. I love the reusable bags for other things, but I know I would end up forgetting them when going to the store if those were my main bags. They don't charge for the bags here though, that may change my decision if they ever started to.

[Traci Reed]

We use canvas or Chico bags. Even if you use the plastic for other purposes, they still end up in a landfill or ocean unless you reuse them for something and then go recycle em..so we try and do our part by using canvas

[rach3975]

Originally Posted by Paula

We use reusable canvas bags that we keep in the car.

Us, too. We get a discount (5 cents, IIRC) for each bag we bring.