Even though she was fully onboard with reusable shopping totes, Quebecer Judy Lazar wanted to do more to reduce the use of plastic bags at the grocery store. Despite over one in three Quebec shoppers using canvas over plastic at the checkout, the produce department was still a culprit with all of those clear plastic bags used to bag fruits and veggies. So Credobags' produce bags were born.
Read on for more about these reusable produce bags from Canada, as well as another design we also like.
Credobags are made of cotton that is grown in Turkey, shipped to Montreal, and made into yarn here. It is then woven into fabric and sewn into bags by local workers.
Many shoppers who want to avoid plastic produce bags just skip them altogether, buying their produce loose in the basket. However, as Lazar points out, bags are handy when it comes to small produce items like mushrooms. In fact, these sorts of vegetable bags have been growing in popularity right alongside the explosion of options in market bags.
Here's one other set of reusable vegetable produce bags that recently caught our attention. They come in a set of four, including one bonus bag for herbs and bulk spices or teas. The bags are very light, so they won't add anything to the scale when they're weighing your veggies or bulk grains. They also have drawstrings, which we love. This particular set is available from Wonderthunder on Etsy.
Do you use reusable produce bags at the grocery store? Do you have a favorite set?
• Buy Credobags: You can find out more about Credobags' cotton produce bags online at Credobags.ca and you can purchase them Grassroots Environmental Products for $5 each.
• Buy Wonderthunder bags: Happy Vegetable Reusable Vegetable Bags in Red, $20 for a set of four at Wonderthunder.
Related: No More Plastic Bags: Organic Cotton Produce Bags
Via: The Montreal Gazette
- Post by Regina
(Top photo: Dave Sidaway. Additional photos: Wonderthunder.)
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
What are those furry green balls on the left? Are they edible? I'm intrigued.
view JENK968's profile
I use the organic cotton cloth sacks and net drawstring bags from EcoBags.com for produce and bulk dry goods. The cashiers were a bit surprised at first but they got used to them. I get a lot of compliments. My only issue is that they keep insisting on taking my veggies out of the bags to weigh them so I don't have to pay for the bag's weight. I really don't think it makes that much of a difference!
view Emily G.'s profile
I've been wanting something like this, although I do have extra uses for my plastic produce bags (at least one more time to hold produce from the CSA or market, and finally to line the pulp bin from my juicer). I just wish someone would make a less expensive version. I rarely buy only 4 types of produce at a time.
view renata's profile
I was going to order some the first time you posted about them, but after looking at the price, it seemed way more affordable to make my own. With some plain muslin from my stash, leftover ribbon, and some time I whipped out a dozen or so in multiple sizes in an afternoon.
I do wish that I had found some way to put a window in them, but they are easy enough to open and close so that the checkout person can peek inside.
And surprisingly, I am getting sack credits for my produce bags as well as my grocery bags.
They work pretty well, but I find that if I want to keep the produce longer, I still need to put it in resealable plastic bags when I get home. These I can wash and reuse. I tried storing the produce in the bags that I made, but it just doesn't keep as well.
view fab's profile
Love these bags! I like them because I can see myself just hanging them in the bag in the kitchen after using them at the grocery store.
http://www.carinagardner.com
view carinagardner's profile
There is Moukisac from Vancouver, BC. http://moukisac.com/index.php It is a set with a grocery bag and 4 produce bags all in one. I have it bookmarked because I love the concept. Unfortunately, I have way too many reusable bags to even think of buying any more. Anyone know a good way to store all these bags?
view Holly's profile
Im in Austin and Blue Avocado, a local company, makes really cute mesh bags (along with a whole line of resusable grocery totes/items). Here's a link to their mesh bags specifically:
http://www.blueavocado.com/products/veg-9-6.html
view Squirrely's profile
Would oilcloth work to make storage bags for the produce? I've noticed a lot of people say their produce doesn't store as well in cloth bags, but oilcloth is sort of waterproof, right? Has anyone tried this?
view Tiamat_the_Red's profile
We have our produce delivered weekly from a CSA, but I still buy my flour, sugar, and rice in bulk from the store.
I've been looking for good reusable bags for those items...off to follow all of these helpful links!
http://embritadesign.blogspot.com
view EmmieB's profile
Emily g: Find the tare weight of your bag and you won't have to remove your items from your bags.
I like the idea of these bags (I have a similar one) but they don't do one thing plastic sacks do really well: keep vegetables from going bad in the fridge over several days.
view marthag's profile
I like the eco bags, too. From delight.com. They wash pretty well (drip dry, thank you very much!!) And they are cheaper too. $15.50 for 4. I don't get a second look at whole foods but at Market basket they are weirded out by them. :)
view shayna's profile
I like these but might make my own. Four wouldn't get us through a single trip to the market.
I wouldn't use oilcloth for the bags. Oilcloth is not at all green. It is dirty to produce and made of nasty chemical leaching pvc.
view JudiAU's profile
I've always thought about this!
many things, like a bundle of asparagus or three or less of things like grapefruit or onions I just send through loose. but when I buy more, it would be nicer for the cashier to have them bagged, and it's a great idea for bulk items! I'd probably still use plastic for things like lettuce for now, but I'd love to cut down!
view foodefafa's profile
since i've been learning to sew, i made some of these this weekend. it was a great way to learn a very easy pattern, and i improved on them as i went along!
i spent $2 on unbleached muslin and about $3 on cotton drawstring...and even found some ripstop nylon (enough for three large bags) in the $1 bin. end result? seven large produce bags for $6.... and only one afternoon of work. of course, they're not nearly as show-stopping as the screenprinted ones, and i love to buy from artisans on etsy, but i'm also pinching pennies these days.
view amber77's profile
@Emilyg - like Marthag said, if you have the tare weight for your bags, then the cashiers won't need to remove the items while ringing them up (cashiers have told me that it is illegal for them to charge you for the weight of the cloth bag, can cause them problems if ever audited. I'm not sure how true that is....) Check the manufacturer tags on your bags - the ones I bought from resusablebags.com have the tare weight of each (there are several sizes) printed on the tag. If not, if you have access to a scale, you can weigh yours and then write down the tare weight for them to use.
view Grumpy Girl's profile