Let's Talk About Bags

Everywhere you look a different store is offering it's own reusable shopping bags. In some cases it's just an advertising scheme...hey, look at us we care about the environment...now go buy some of those yummy artichokes from Peru. Some are actually very inexpensive bags often made from...recycled water bottles or something. These are usually about $1.00 and are offered in many areas of the store.

A local grocery store has a nice green (color not statement) bag for $4.99. And you get a whole $.05 discount when you remember to bring it with you. I think that is too much to spend on a bag and I'm not sure they really 'get' the idea.

I bought some nice bags at a specialty grocery (think Whole Foods but smaller and more expensive) near my house for $2.99. I think these will be the bags I take on non grocery trips. They are a solid color with a catchy logo on the front.

I also purchased some produce bags that I think maybe I can do with out. Is it really a big deal if my apple touches my potatoes which are touching my Triscuits....I mean, really.... These are in my grocery bags but I find that they are kinda cumbersome. You put the produce in the bag, then you take it out so it can be weighed and rung up, them back in the bag...see, too much trouble. Just put the apple in the big bag.

The bags I like the best are the very colorful bags I bought at Whole Foods for $.99. They are big enough to hold several plastic bags worth of groceries and sturdy enough to carry without worry that they will break. They stand up on their own which alleviates my big pet peeve....plastic bags that slouch and all your stuff falls out either on the car floor or on the counter when you get home.

Apparently Walmart has bags now. Also $.99. They look nice and are cheap. I'm not sure how I feel about Walmart. I think they may be hurting the small business and they probably have company policies that I really hate but I'm not quite ready to jump on the 'I Hate Walmart Bandwagon'. They are a great place to get staples and they are the only place in town I can get Ben and Jerry's Coffee Heath Bar Crunch.

Make sure you keep the bags in your car. It doesn't help you if the bags are home in the closet when you go to the store.

So I guess what I'm saying is give the reusable bag thing a try. It's fun to see the confused look on the sackers's face and you might save $.10 and maybe a whale.