I Have Been Using These $16 Produce Bags for One Year — and They’ve Helped Me Ditch Plastic for Good

As someone who’s thrown away one too many plastic bags of pricey brown avocados, I was desperate to find a solution that would keep my produce from going from ripe to rotten in a matter of days. My search ultimately led me to these $15.99 cotton reusable produce bags on Amazon, which, it turns out, have been an absolute game changer. Besides saving my monthly food budget by preventing fungus from coating something that once was once edible, the bags also helped me completely ditch plastic at the grocery store once and for all.

New York, like many states across the U.S., has declared an official ban on single-use plastic bags, but tons of fresh produce is still packaged in plastic — not to mention the fact that rolls of plastic produce bags are still in most grocery stores. But don’t need to reach for the plastic now that I have the cotton bags, which I take with me to the store so that I can place produce directly into them. I’ve even swapped pre-packaged produce for loosely sold items, which has been both an economical and convenient decision because I now have the exact quantity I need for the week ahead. No more waste!

Another great thing about the bags is that they’re made from cotton mesh. That means I can plop them right into the fridge once I’m home from grocery shopping and can easily see what’s inside. More importantly, the mesh allows the produce to breathe, so that it will stay fresh longer. In other words, my avocados are as green as they day I bought them.

While there are many reusable produce bags on Amazon, I love my set (it has a 4.7-star rating!), which includes nine small, medium, and large sizes that can hold delicate herbs, fruits and vegetables, meats, baked goods, and bulk items. They’re even strong enough to hold a five-pound sack of loose potatoes (trust me, I’ve tried it!), and the drawstring closure ensures nothing will spill out.

One year later, I couldn’t be happier with the bags, which have been an easy way for me to keep my produce fresh without putting a strain on the environment or my budget.

Buy: Tonak Cotton Reusable Produce Bags, $15.99