BYOB – Bring Your Own Bag
If there is only one thing you do to attempt green, this should be it. This is a new trend that I’m very excited about. Many of my friends have emailed me (thank you) with various articles related to using your own shopping bag at grocery stores. Many countries, including Ireland and China, now have laws that either prohibit the use of plastic bags or require that plastic bags are charged for. And it isn’t just countries that are making better strides than the U.S., it is even happening in the U.S. (San Francisco). On top of that, stores like IKEA and WholeFoods charge for plastic bags (note to self for next IKEA trip).
The consumption of plastic bags is unbelievable (think about how many you use every time you go to the grocery store). The environmental impact is just scary. The plastic is not biodegradable. That means that the plastic doesn’t break down, it becomes smaller and smaller bits of toxic waste. With this process animals, mostly marine life, eat these bits of plastic. To make this more personal, there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t see an abandoned bag blowing down the street.
I mentioned that this is a new trend. Most grocery stores now carry fabric grocery bags that you can buy (usually about $1/bag). I’ve read that Target is also selling fabric shopping bags that are red with a white tree that has the Target logo all over it. I personally like the new bags that Walmart is going to be selling, with the design “Paper or Plastic? Neither.” (pictured above). I’ve heard, but have not been able to confirm that Home Depot will also be carrying fabric shopping bags, if orange happens to be your favorite color. Before you know it, everyone will be bringing their own shopping bag with them.
Many grocery stores are offering discounts when you bring your own bag. While I haven’t found any official statement from any grocery store chain, I have found many people commenting on blogs that they are saving typically $0.05 for every bag they use. This includes the Kroger chain of grocery stores (including Ralphs, King Soopers, City Market, Dillons, Smith’s, Fry’s, QFC Quality Food Centers, Baker’s, Owen’s, JayC Food Stores, Hilander, Gerbes, Pay Less) and Supervalu chain (including ACME, Albertsons, Bigg’s, Bristol Farms, Cub Foods, Farm Fresh, Hornbacker’s, Jewel-Osco, Shaws/Star, Shop’n'Save, Shoppers, sunflower Market). I did a couple of random checks and Pathmark, Safeway, and Shoprite also give discounts. Sadly, Giant Eagle (the chain here in Cleveland, OH) does not offer a discount. So now the bags are even cost justifiable.
I’ve purchased 4 bags from Giant Eagle and that actually is enough for most of my shopping trips. I think maybe two more should even handle my really big shopping trips. Now, I’ve been doing this for the past few weeks and I have found one minor difficult part to all this. Several times I get halfway from my car to the store and realize I forgot to bring the bags with me and need to go out to my car to get them (I always leave them in my car, so that partially helps). One of my friends was telling me about Chico Bags, which fold up neatly into a pocket so they are small enough to fit into your purse or even clip on to a D-ring which can snap on to your purse strap (assuming you carry a purse). So I’m planning to get a couple so that when I make that urgent RiteAid run, I always have my bag.
Tags: environment, green, Reusable Bags
April 16th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
[…] in other products. However, you could go another step further and use reusable bags. I did a post about reusable bags before, but I don’t think we can say enough about it. I said it before, if there is one thing […]