Grocery store bags

[toepick]

I'd say 90% of the time. But I do recycle the plastic bags I end up with.

[TrickyBob]

I'm bad at saving the environment. I let them give me plastic and then I use them as trash bags.

[Muddled]

As long as it's a planned trip to the store (not just grocery), I have my bags with me. I do keep one little foldy bag in my purse for unexpected stops, but it's not always enough.

[janiejones]

Most of the time - unless I shove just a few things in my purse, use the boxes they have, or am dumb and forgot my bags and have to buy them for 5cents.
We used to have a colour coded garbage bag system and it was cheaper to pay for the clear green grocery bags at our No Frills at 5cents than buy a pack of new clear green garbage bags. (Kitchen bag size).


Now we can only use compostable garbage bags for our green stuff, and clear bags for our other garbage. I rarely need to get the 5 cent bags and when I do it's a total piss off because I have no way to reuse them.

[rosiedozie]

Our city has a bag ban, so 100% of the time

[janiejones]

I'm also going to add that I grew up using cloth bags. My parents are hippies so we've been doing it my whole life.

[LeggsBenedict]

most of the time. sometimes they don't make it back to the car, we forget them in the front entry.

[dapotato]

if i don't, i have to pay 10 cents per paper bag since plastic is outlawed. that's a big incentive. mine fold up into a pouch that i keep in my purse at all times. annoying to carry around the extra weight, but it's better than forgetting them and having to either trek out to the car or pay for bags.

[thatgirl2478]

rarely.  I have a few, but usually forget them or can't find them because my kid steals them to tote her stuffed animals around the house.  :/

I used to reuse them around the house, but now they are so cheap they usually rip before I even get them home - which makes them useless for cat litter.  I should just take them back to the store's recycle bin...

[wambam]

If it's a planned trip, 100% of the time. If it's a "crap we're out of garlic powder" run, probably not.

[IrishBelle]

The stores here charge 5 cents per bag. Its a big motivator to remember my bags. I keep them in my trunk so I always have them with me and never need to worry about forgetting them.

[bonquiqui]

I use plastic and use them for other purposes

[spitforspat]

I don't understand how charging .05 or .10 a bag is a motivator. Loose change does not motivate me.

[Eagles]

I keep all my reusable bags in a basket in the back of my car, so always. Leggs - I only remember because I put them right in front of the door when I'm done putting everything away. I have to walk over them to leave the house again. It's the only way to combat my laziness.

I usually use one of those giant bags from Ikea. I can fit almost everything in it, except for meats/dairy, which go in a separate bag. It has made schlepping groceries so much easier.

[Deleted]

May 4, 2014 20:06:00 GMT -5 rosiedozie said:

Our city has a bag ban, so 100% of the time

Ditto; sorta.  We have a plastic bag ban, but you can still get paper bags for a small fee.  Also, our whole foods donates 5 cents to a good shelter for every re useable bag you use.

[Deleted]

May 4, 2014 20:13:19 GMT -5 spitforspat said:

I don't understand how charging .05 or .10 a bag is a motivator. Loose change does not motivate me.

I didn't think so either - but oddly enough, it turned out to be one for me.  It took me about 6 months for it to be an ingrained habit to remember my bags.

[marylennox]

Very rarely. I can have every intention to but honestly I just never have my shit together enough to remember to use them.

[Deleted]

May 4, 2014 20:17:44 GMT -5 @smace said:

They could charge me $5 per bag and I'd still forget.

Trust me - you learn I thought I would be a lifer bag forgetter.  

[megalicious]

I hate hate hate those damn plastic bags. Sure you can use them for a trash bag, but if you use them exclusively you end up with 10,000 of them you eventually have throw them out. I store mine in my car so that they're always on hand. I even take my reusables to the mall.

[LeggsBenedict]

May 4, 2014 20:13:33 GMT -5 Eagles said:

I keep all my reusable bags in a basket in the back of my car, so always. Leggs - I only remember because I put them right in front of the door when I'm done putting everything away. I have to walk over them to leave the house again. It's the only way to combat my laziness.

I usually use one of those giant bags from Ikea. I can fit almost everything in it, except for meats/dairy, which go in a separate bag. It has made schlepping groceries so much easier.

I swear, I did this last week and h moved them against the wall so he could leave. h wasn't getting in his car, just walking to class, but he has to walk passed his car in the street. ?!

[Eagles]

May 4, 2014 20:25:54 GMT -5 LeggsBenedict said:

May 4, 2014 20:13:33 GMT -5 Eagles said:

I keep all my reusable bags in a basket in the back of my car, so always. Leggs - I only remember because I put them right in front of the door when I'm done putting everything away. I have to walk over them to leave the house again. It's the only way to combat my laziness.

I usually use one of those giant bags from Ikea. I can fit almost everything in it, except for meats/dairy, which go in a separate bag. It has made schlepping groceries so much easier.

I swear, I did this last week and h moved them against the wall so he could leave. h wasn't getting in his car, just walking to class, but he has to walk passed his car in the street. ?!

Set his hair on fire.

[dapotato]

May 4, 2014 20:13:19 GMT -5 spitforspat said:

I don't understand how charging .05 or .10 a bag is a motivator. Loose change does not motivate me.

it's a motivator if you're a cheapass like me. i also hate remembering halfway through and leaving my cart to go to the car to get them.  the times i forgot until i was at the register, i bought the damn bags so as not to hold up people behind me. yes, i'm totally penny wise & pound foolish when it comes to this.

a few months after the ban went into effect, it was already ingrained anyway.

[hisno1girl]

I don't use reusable bags, but I do reuse the bags I get. I tell myself that's a good start.

[Moe]

I am cheap enough to get irritated at the 5c, so I learned to bring my cloth bags. Actually, I was doing this way before the ban in SEA.

There's no ban here, but I'm used to it, so I bring my bags.

[hisno1girl]

May 4, 2014 20:13:19 GMT -5 spitforspat said:

I don't understand how charging .05 or .10 a bag is a motivator. Loose change does not motivate me.

Right? I'd be like, "here's a dollar. I'M GOOD."

[Jalapeñomel]

Can't see the poll, but we try to reuse bags. But any grocery bag we have turns into a poop bag, so at least they get reused.

[SKP82]

I use my reusable bags 90% of the time. Sometimes I forget them if I'm in a hurry or I don't bring enough. I keep two folded in a small pouch in my diaper bag in case I have to stop for something unexpectedly.

We use the plastic bags we do get for dog poop clean up or I recycle them.

[mushmouse]

I bring them to Aldi because they don't have bags. But I use the plastic grocery store bags for our garbage. No point bringing my own and then paying for plastics garbage bags.

[isabel]

May 4, 2014 20:08:34 GMT -5 wambam said:

If it's a planned trip, 100% of the time. If it's a "crap we're out of garlic powder" run, probably not.

Exactly this. In the instances where I'm just grabbing something, I rarely use a bag.

I have these and absolutely love them:
www.etsy.com/listing/70796434/natural-canvas-reusable-shopping-bag?ref=related-1

I use these for produce and bulk items:
www.etsy.com/listing/47035398/bulk-bin-dry-food-bags-market-shopping?ref=favs_view_18

[crazycakes]

I usually use cloth bags. Exceptions are when we need kitty litter bags (I'll do a trip and get a bunch), unplanned stops for one or two things and I don't have a bag, or whenever DH goes to the store. He never brings the 1,000,000 bags we have.