Saying No to Shopping Bags

We’ll be honest: We could be a lot more green around here, although we sometimes try. We drive an SUV, for example, but we use a low-water, high-efficiency washing machine.

One area where we are really, really good, and we have been for awhile, is shopping bags. When they ask “paper or plastic”, we usually say neither, because we bring our own bags. We even do our own bagging, in order to keep them from putting groceries in bags and then putting that inside our own bags.

This began partly because the cabinet under our sink was overloaded with bags, plastic and paper. Also, it began because we bought this terrific insulated bag for a road trip many moons ago, and it became a super-handy way to transport groceries. Especially when we hit Trader Joe’s during our daughter’s ballet class, and we have to lug all our goodies through the shopping complex and to the far-off parking place.

Everyone asks where we found this huge, sturdy bag, and the truth is, we don’t exactly remember. We think perhaps Wal Mart, where we really rarely shop, but have this nagging feeling we found it along some strange interstate. In any case, it’s enormous and strong, much better than the smaller bags we find at Trader Joe’s and Costco.

For example, this bag can hold several bottles of booze, pounds and pounds of produce and cheese along with cookies, bags of popcorn, whole chickens and juice boxes.

One problem is when a clerk places it inside the main part of the cart. It’s really hard to hoist it out of the low basket of the cart.

We’re big fans of the green, paper-ish bags that Whole Foods and other markets sell, or sometimes give away. Our daughter’s preschool gave away bags at their Open House this fall, and while they don’t last forever, they are perfect for lighter-weight items.

Clearly, we would fit right in in San Francisco. Even Los Angeles is trying to figure out a similar plan.

We say, bring it on! Invest in some heavy-duty insulated bags. Save the world, and also, some money. (Trader Joe’s gives us a raffle ticket each time we bring our own bags. If we win, which we never have, we’ll get a $25 shopping spree. And Whole Foods gives us a discount, too — five cents a bag.