I love the ones my mother got from a friend–made of heavy-duty washable upholstery ticking. My husband thinks they’re ugly, but they’re incredibly sturdy and I can just throw them in the washing machine if the produce leaks.
(We don’t pay for bags here–yet–but I’ve been using these for years now. The only time I ask for a plastic bag at the supermarket is when I buy a package of chicken parts, just in case it leaks.)
I will admit that I use them only at the regular supermarket (and of course Costco is no bags anyway), so I’m still getting plastic bags at other stores. Most of them have no idea how to handle someone who brings their own bag. (One bags the stuff in plastic and then puts the plastic bag in my cloth bag!)
I also have a dozen or so of the 99-cents ones given free as bonuses, but they’re not very sturdy.
I’ve had meat juice leak into my bags before. Also had some eggs break once when the bagger bagged the box sideways with some canned goods. I’m not worried about bacteria on the outside of the bags, but I am concerned about bacteria on the inside of the bag, where my food is.
I have a half dozen or so heavy canvas bags and I’ve been using them for years. To be honest, I started using them when I was gifted with one during a store grand opening and found it very practical for schlepping my groceries from the car to my apartment, (about 50 yards).
So simple to keep in the trunk, use and then toss in the laundry basket. Wash weekly in my “whites” load with bleach and they’re always clean. Trader Joes has these for about $3 as well as the plastic ones. Great value.
I’ve had many cashiers remark on how clean my bags are and how nasty a lot of folks keep theirs.
I have never had meat leak out of the package because I put it inside on of those plastic produce bags from the store . I can see washing it if something broke inside or used it for a barf bag . I use the cheap Trader Joes bag . I would just replace it if that happened , otherwise no need to wash .
I’ve never needed to wash a grocery bag. What the heck do y’all do driving home? We have a huge collection of various sorts of bags. For really big shops we use “boat bags” from Land’s End and LL Bean.
I normally do too, but sometimes the cashier has a hard time scanning the package through the produce bag so they remove it, and don’t always tie it back up well. I was replacing the TJ bags when they got dirty, but after replacing 10-12 of them over the last couple years, I realized I could just buy washable bags for the money I spent replacing the plastic ones.
There’s also some dispute about how many times one has to use a re-usable bag before it is better for the environment. I’ve seen figures between 25 and 100 times, and also seen that people throw out their re-usable bags after 50 times. So depending on which figures are accurate, the re-usable bags may not actually be better.
In their favor, however, I have not seen them decorating all the shrubs along Route 60 in Arizona. The ugliness the disposable bags add to the environment (not to mention danger to wildlife) makes me dislike them immensely.
I probably have about 2 dozen bags that I have aquired over time. I prefer the cloth ones that i can wash. Although I did realize that I have one whole foods bag that dates back to the mid-20s. It still works and holds a heavy load. When I am at checkout I let the cashier and bagger know that I prefer to get everything into the cloth bag and that I will disappointed if they can t make that happen. The cloth ones are Jaques Pepin and Williams sonoma, all the rest are plastic ones that i have aquired over time. My latest one is a tjs that I got the day they opened their new store here in Tulsa. When I go to Aldi’s I make sure that I have some in the car. And I have several wine bags that I also keep in the car so that I don’t have to deal with boxes when I go to the wine store.
We ended up going with the standard size Baggu’s. They seem to be sturdy, easy to carry and are machine washable. Now if I can every remember to bring them into the store I’ll stop getting charged the bag tax.
The ugliness the disposable bags add to the environment (not to mention danger to wildlife) makes me dislike them immensely.
