Reusable Shopping Bags

Plastic bags end up as litter that gets buried in landfills taking up to 1,000 years to break down, and in the process separating into small toxic particles that contaminate soil and water. They also kill thousands of marine mammals every year because they’re mistaken as food floating in the water. Not to mention, the production of plastic bags consume millions of gallons of oil that could be used for fuel and heating.

Paper bags, which many people consider a better alternative to plastic bags, carry their own set of environmental problems. According to the American Forest and Paper Association, about 10 billion paper grocery bags are used each year in the United States. Which adds up to a lot of trees!

There is a solution. Embrace in inexpensive, eco-friendly shopping bags for a brighter ecological future. Grocery stores benefit when you don’t use plastic bags, so they’ll sell bags cheap, or give them away. Trader Joe’s sells them for a dollar and Whole Foods sells them for $2 plus a 5 cent refund for bringing your own bags. Keep everything in the reusable bag until you reach the car, then transfer your goodies into a special bin or set of bins in the trunk.

If you’re not a fan of carrying grocery brands and logos on your bags, you can buy from online retailers:

• Reusablebags.com offers the most comprehensive selection and replacements for produce bags.
• Envirosax.com is “The Original Designer Reusable Bag”.
• Onebagatatime.com is dedicated to supplying the very best reusable bags available.

You can also make your own reusable cloth bags! Check out these free tutorials and patterns:

• T-Shirt Bag: Turn an old t-shirt into a reusable bag.
• MorsBags.com: Offers a downloadable pattern in PDF or Word Doc.
• Pillowcase Tote: Simple grocery tote made from an old pillow case including handles!

To read more about reusable shopping bags, check out She’s A Betty.

For more patterns and tutorials on how to make your own bag, check out TipNut.com.