apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Whole Foods in Boston stopped using plastic bags March 1 - it's sad to stand in check out and see how many people didn't catch the hint, and are still either asking for plastic, or gobbling up their double-bagged paper bags, instead of carrying their own.

Whole Foods sells reusable bags for $1 each. They're large and strong. I'm still using the same four bags I got in their anniversary giveaways three years ago.

My local Whole Foods stopped packing things in plastic bags last year. Their reusable bag designs are so nifty, too, I tend to buy a new one every time a new design comes out...I now have a collection so large that it makes me wonder if I should ever buy another one.

I think the real way to reduce disposable-bag use is to charge for them. If there's an actual cost for not getting around to bringing your own bags with you, people might actually start remembering to do so. It's something I care about, and I don't forget to bring my own reusable bags with me to the grocery, but I'm usually one of only very few at the grocery store (even Whole Foods) who do so.

It still does seem foreign to some people to bring their own bag. At Target the other day, I brought one of my own bags and the check-out lady seemed confused and irriated when I handed her my bag. We definitely have a long way to go.

i've also added my own nylon mesh produce bags to my arsenal and the cashier asked her manager *twice* what kind of lettuce it was, noting that she had never before seen such a thing. oh, bother ....

V in Boston: I know that Ikea charges when you use plastic bags (I think it's 5 cents a bag?) and they provide reusable ones for sale for 50 cents or a dollar. They're the only store I've seen that charges for using plastic, but still every time I go I seem to be the only one who brings a reusable bag.

I wish everywhere would start charging for bags, plastic and paper both if they still offer both. People, bring your own! Also, mrs, where did you find your nylon produce bags? Are you happy with them? I have no problem buying most veggies loose but some just need a bag.

Another store that charges you for bags (at least around here) is Aldi, and they have been doing it for as long as I can remember. I know their motivation has always been to keep costs down, but it always makes people think twice about using bags...

Tesco in the UK are starting to charge 5p a bag now for plastic carrier bags, I've been wondering when the US would start to follow suit.

I always try to bring my own bags, but I'm one of those people who just can't get behind shopping for a week at a time, I find I have to go to the grocery store at least every other day to get the food I'm planning to eat that night (at least for the fresh components) otherwise I end up buying food, not feeling like it on the allotted day and then it spoils before I can use it. I seem to have a terrible time remembering to bring the bags back down to my car so I'll have them at the store and I end up refusing the plastic carrier and trying to juggle.

I find that the Whole Foods bag stays standing when opened, which baggers like. I have about 5 reusable canvas bags that I've had for years that baggers dislike, as they don't "stay open". I've taken to placing them on the plastic bag holders at regular grocery stores.

At my local hardware store, they are fine with my re-usable bag, but I tried to use it at Victoria's Secret, and Target, and get clueless cashiers, asking why, and then tuning out my answer. I also have to refuse tissue paper at clothing stores, as I have too much in my gift wrapping bag at home to ever use it all. I keep expected to be stopped for stealing at mall shops the way they treat me.

Whole Foods around here already got rid of plastic bags. On the day they stopped, they gave out their larger recycled bags for free (colorful unlike the green ones they also sell).

Target is selling the recycled plastic bags now for a $1 but they're too small for the kinds of things you would buy at Target. They need to put out some larger bags like IKEA sells.

I'm generally good about using my reusable bags when I'm making a purposeful trip to the stores. If it's an impulse stop though, I tend to forget to bring bags. I need to get in the habit of having a few in the car at all times.

i have tons of canvas, string, etc., bags that i use in place of regular shopping bags. my project for this summer is to make some kind of light-weight, washable, reusable bags to substitute for those plastic bags you're supposed to segregate your produce in. i'm thinking about nylon, so that its weight doesn't inadvertently add to my shopping bill, maybe with a drawstring. i'm not sure how to make it easy for the check-out clerk to see what's in the bag, though.

anyone done this already and have any tips?

Baggubag.com rocks! I'm tellin' ya! rocks! I went and bought over $100. in groceries recently, and every single thing fit in three bags! They each weighed a zillion pounds, but never the less, it worked!

- Nate
method lust
one man's unsupressed lust for method home products

I was in Whole Foods yesterday and noticed that probably 90% of the shoppers had their own bags. Plastic bags have been banned here in SF for a while, but still, I was impressed. In the last year I think we've seen an exponential shift in people bringing their own. We've all adapted just fine, and I think most people agree with me that it's really not such a pain, once you get used to it it's normal. Now if we could all get used to not using our cars!