I don’t know why you’ve eliminated fabric since it ‘seems’ like they’ll last forever.
Also, as I mentioned here, there are already places where you can’t get plastic bags AT ALL, except the small compostable ones in the produce department. This will spread to other municipalities and states over time.
I eliminated fabric (cotton, line) to make a simple comparison among single-use plastic vs multi-use plastic bags. The thicker plastic bag can be used a long time and in fact easier to clean than fabric bags – just a simple wipe with wet cloth should do.
But the fabric ones, if washed at all, will just go in with a regular load of wash. And, again, don’t get accustomed to those plastic bags. They’re going the way of the dinosaurs 
That’s great, good for you.
The single-use grocery bag IS disappearing, but the plastic reusable totes (e.g. TJ’s) are popular and practical. Trying to do a valid study of resource use for fabric bags is precluded by the variety/source of cloth used. Some fabrics contain recycled fiber and even recycled plastics. I have seen totes made from old shirts, skirts, and dresses, not to mention linens.
I agree with CK about the cleanability of multi-use plastic totes, but the main reason I prefer them is that they stand upright when open, making them easier to load/empty than most fabric bags.
Agreed!
In a way that’s not really reusing the plastic bags. Technically the trash liner bag is still trash, and the dog poop bag too. We could argue about leaving the dog poo to disintegrate naturally !! (But I use my plastic bags the same way so I’m not judging just saying).
Back in the olden days of course nobody really picked up dog poop except maybe in your own back yard and even then it was with a shovel and buried in a corner. As for lining trash cans, they were called waste paper baskets and you didn’t put icky stuff in them. My mom used to put tea leaves outside in the yard, wrap potato peelings and other damp waste in butcher paper, glass bottles were returned. Things weren’t so packaged, paper towels were not available. Sad that we’re such a disposable society these days.
Thank you. Interesting & all makes sense. The fact remains that the food in my house is fed to two small girls, and that age of puberty in girls has decreased tremendously in the past decades. In my particular instance, I want as few endocrine disrupters in my family’s food as possible so I err on the side of caution and use glass in the microwave. There is so little we can control when it comes to chemicals in our immediate environment that I like to do what I can.
my trader joe’s reusable grocery bags are many years old. i have used them hundreds and hundreds of times.
