By Tania Reuben
Bringing your own bags with you when you shop is such an easy change to make – yet so many of us don’t bother.
I thinks it’s just because we haven’t gotten into the habit. And – it really is a habit. They say it takes 30 days to form a new habit. I’m a slow learner – it took me almost a year.
So how do you break through the bag barrier?
To start:
Keep shopping bags in the car. This way they are with you when you need them. After unloading groceries – I put the all the bags outside my front door this way I remember to put it back in the car.
Even if you don’t have the canvas bags, start by reusing your regular shopping bags – over and over again.
The canvas bags, they will come – I kept getting given them through special promotions and now I have a fleet – it really is worth buying them they are typically around a dollar and you only need a handful.
Advanced:
Don’t stop at your grocery bags. Strangely for me, it was harder to get in the habit for sundries, going to target or the drug store. While “shopping” shopping – it was harder still.
Somehow those shiny crisp beautiful looking bags have become part of the shopping experience – yet whatever we pull out of that bag will look the same no matter what it comes home in. And we’ll be taking better care of the planet at the same time. If this is still a jump for you, try getting a slightly snazzier canvas or tote just for retail therapy.
That should make every shopper happy – go shopping for a bag so you don’t need bags when you go shopping.
There have been times when I’ve been caught without my bags – I’m not perfect, but now it really has become a habit.
And if you are wondering – why bother – coming soon.
{ 11 comments… add one }
What if you need really big bags?
I’m laughing – because I think you are joking – but I also think you want to know.
The good news – I’m sure we don’t use nearly as many oversize bags – so when you have to use the stores you can. But sometimes you take a large bag for a large box, that likely doesn’t even need a bag. So skip the bag all together, make a handle out of packing tape. Some stores have ready made versions of this.
Also – stores like Ikea, sell petty large bags too, but it does take a lot of uses for them to make the reusable bags pay off, so think, are you really going to use that bag 2-300 times? With groceries and smaller items there is no doubt.
Also – when you must take a bag – it seems like the “overall” environmental impact of plastic is overall lower than paper.
So true. They also sell reusable “shopping bags” that fold into a little pouch that you can just throw in your purse. It just makes it that much easier because you always have one on you. I’ve seen them at the checkout counter at Bed Bath & Beyond for really cheap.
I looked into what you talked about in this article and I had to convince myself that you were wrong. I looked up the info and it seems you are 100% correct in your statements. Because of this, I have subscribed myself to your RSS feed. Keep up the great work here.
This is such a wonderful change in the way we live. It’s not just saving the plastic bags from being landfilled, but the daily reinforcement of making a positive effort for good.
I was just reading the book “Ecological Intelligence” and was stunned to learn that, even though most plastic bags are made of recyclable material, less than 10% of bags make it to recycling.
Go canvas!
Yes. The statistics are similar for water bottles and soda cans!
When traveling, I started getting freaked out by all the plastic bags
I’d see all over the world on beaches, in swamps and blowing over landfills. I was thrilled when L.A. started accepting them for recycling, but Matt’s right — it’s almost inconsequential.I’ve (finally) made bag-bringing a habit for the last two years, and I find the packable totes and the big canvas ones from L.L. Bean are the most useful. (I don’t have an IKEA one, but my neighbor with twins sure does!) When I take out my own bag at a clothing store, sometimes a salesgirl/guy will look at me with surprise…but who knows? Maybe it’ll inspire them to bring their own bags, too.
Starting a bag habit is so, so easy. I carry my little Chico Bag in my purse. I bring bigger canvas bags to the Farmers’ Market. I even refuse the tiny bags at the pharmacy – what ‘s the use? The bottles fit in my purse. The only negative experience I’ve had was at Sears. They did not allow me to use my own bag or even to refuse theirs and just tape the receipt to my purchase (a small garden pruner). I was appalled – and it was Earth Week! By insisting on their plastic bag, Sears lost a customer.
Hi, I have been using reusaable bags for years and I have all kinds of them that I use, its easy once you get in the habit, also if I am getting one thing like a few balls of yarn and I do not have a bag I just say ” I ll carry it”Thanks for this post
Joyce
I have a couple that fold up and can fit in my purse (when I carry a large one)… I have also found that if I have the kids take the bags back to the car when we get home, it is a life saver… I always seem to forget to get them back out to the truck or van…If you are trying to get friends and family to use the recycled bags, try this tip…. My Mom used various store recycled bags as gift bags 2 years ago for Christmas..Each of the kids (young adults) got a grocery bag with their gift in it… it is gift that keeps on giving.
Chico Bags are my favorite! Inexpensive, fit in my purse, strong…. great BYO bag. Even the clerks are impressed.