apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Thats a pretty good point. I know myself I don't have any of the plastic tote bags. I have made my own bags, or received canvas ones as gifts.

But, yes the energy to make a bag is greater then plastic bags, but is it safe to assume that they are made out of recycled plastic (good for reusing, and also you aren't throwing the bag away)?

So I do. And yes, I realize that people have been marketing totes as the green must-have accessory and essentially using 'greenness' to make people buy more stuff.

So take those extra totes and put them in places that they'll actually be useful - maybe in your car, or keep one at work. My biggest problem is having them where and when I need them. Some of the nylon sacks are small enough to stuff in a purse. But if you don't have one of those, you can get a silk or nylon scarf at a thrift store for a new-to-you but totally recycled portable bag, using the methods below.

http://www.wikihow.com/Do-Furoshiki-%28Wrap-and-Carry-Things-With-Square-Cloth%29

If the plastic reusable bags take 28 times the energy as a disposable plastic bag thats 28 weekly grocery store trips. Since most of those bags hold at least twice what a plastic bag holds thats only 14 uses or 3 months of grocery trips if you use it each time. That doesn't seem like too much to break even to me. If you keep them in your car (if you're a suburbanite like me) or have a collapsable one that fits in your purse, it's hard to not have them when you need them. My problem is trying to stop the store clerks from stuffing things into the plastic bags before you have a chance to say that you've brought your own. I think stores need to retrain their employees to ask before sticking a singular item into a bag.

The article says that because reusable bags are made from heaving materials, they're more likely to sit in landfills longer... but that doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. I bought a reusable bag at Rite-Aid that my husband quickly borrowed. He deployed and I just assumed he'd taken it with him. I discovered the bag a few months later in the back of his car... it crumbled when I picked it up and the parts that had been exposed to direct sunlight turned into dust. I've never seen a plastic or paper bag do that.

heavier, not "heaving" materials.

That's a good point! But one of the goals of having a reusable tote bag is to reduce the number of plastic bags in landfill. So I plan on using mine for a long long time =).

I have the same problem with cashiers bagging my things in plastic before I have a chance to say anything. I usually just use my purse since it's big enough to throw things in from a quick trip to the store. Sometimes I try to give the bags back to the cashier to use for the next customer, but usually the cashier seems annoyed that I gave the bag back.

whytephoenix: Thank you so much for that link! Don't know why I never thought of it. I'd much rather be carrying around a scarf in my pocket or purse than a grocery bag!

I have a few tote bags, including two made of recycled plastic, and I use them for every errand I run.

Grocery store, library (I check out a LOT of books), pet-supply store, even the mall (on the odd occasion that I go) - I always bring my own bag unless I don't need one at all.

Some of the same stores that sell their *own* reusable bags are the worst about bagging things quickly in plastic! I have 2 chico bags clipped to my purse. Because they are RIGHT THERE, I can usually say "no plastic, I have my own" before the cashier gets started.

People, put the tote bag on the conveyer belt before the groceries. When the cashier looks at it quizzically, you say, "I brought my own bag." I live in a small town in Mississippi, and it has taken literally years for our local grocery stores to get with the program. My favorite question (by which I mean the one that made my head explode) was this: "Do you want ALL THIS in this one bag?" Asked no matter how much stuff was in my basket to begin with. That said, however, all of the stores seem to have clued their baggers/checkers in, and I no longer get treated like a freak.

The only place I have trouble is the Wal-Mart self-checkout line, where the computer gets all hinky if you "skip bagging" two things in a row.

[Yes, I shop at WallyWorld once in a while, I live in rural Mississippi where we ain't got no other options. Don't be a hater.]

Since I plan on using the totes I just bought - made of recycled plastic, by the way - at least 50 times each (and possibly more, since they seem pretty sturdy), and since they carry more than a traditional paper or plastic bag would, looks like they'll be at least twice as green as the disposable option.

More, if you include the cost of shipping all those disposable bags around (which I'm betting the WSJ forgot to do).

In Europe (and I hear in a few places in the States, now), customers pay for their use of disposable bags. My family visited the country last year and bought several plastic, seemingly woven with recycled materials, for the eight-person household. For the past year, I have used the five bags that I purchased for all of my trips to the grocery store, my dry cleaning trips, my recycling (as they stand up well and they are actually quite cool an have a cool phrase on the side: "Ensemble, protegeons l'environment" or "Together, we protect the environment"), and my trips up and down the stairs. The one that has broken down and ripped spent a whole year outside. The remaining four look brand new and fold flat enough so that I can place them in my bag for work, my car, etc.

Regardless of the fact that these bags might cost more, economically and in terms of energy usage, I use them often. I also do not have to store the disposable plastic bags or buy some under-cabinet holder made of plastic for them.

Purchasing green items has become hip in the past few years. Purchasing has always been hip in some people's eyes, but if each person continues to try to focus on the idea of reducing first, the reusing and recycling will follow.

Who wants the soapbox now?

"the countryside in France"

my bad...

I use second hand bags. I understand why the 'reusable plastic' ones are being marketed. However, I think it is a much sounder mindset to reuse someone's discard than to recycle plastic to make a new product.

I doubt the energy measurement would account for disposal of the bag once it is worn out. Plus who know where and under what conditions they are being made.

Energy is only one side of the story... hopefully most green bags are actually recycled instead of going to landfill, whereas the opposite is likely to be true with plastic bags.

A good green bag will last far more than 28 uses. I've never had one break on me yet, and have probably used them hundreds of times.

Every time I go to the supermarket it never ceases to amaze me how nobody else has green bags with them. That's probably why the cashiers automatically hit you up with plastic unless you're in there quick smart with your bags.