I get nasty looks from cashiers at a lot of stores when I try to use my own bags. I bought a bunch of recycled grocery bags when I lived up in Toronto, Canada for two years – now THEY know how to recycle…composting and all. Some grocery stores up there actually gave you a per bag discount of a couple cents to fifty cents if you used your own to encourage recycling, etc.

Down here in Chicago is a different story, at least at my local corner grocery store (Cermak Produce), where I get nasty looks when I do the BYOB thing. And so far, the pattern is that if I bring my own bags, I do my own bagging…and then after the nasty looks from the cashier, I get nasty looks from the folks in line behind me because I’m lagging & in the way… and/or the cashier just tosses stuff the remaining stuff into whatever bag is closest, even though I’ve got my own grocery cart & need to keep the squishable things together lest they be squished. (Sigh, does no one know the art of grocery bagging any more?!) On one trip, there was a gentleman who did bagging to help out the cashier when it was really busy, and he was pleasant and happy to use my bags, but the cashier was oblivious and started to “help” bagging with plastic bags even though I had a stack of my own there at the ready…ugh…

I am an American living in England and travel on a regular basis throughout Europe. In many places, there are simply no bags available and you have to bring your own. Or you pay extra for bags. On top of that, you are usually required to do your own packing.

Kind regards

Mark

Cotton totes are dull and unfashionable! You can’t use them for anything but groceries! (Complete claptrap.) More like, “Cotton totes are not what I am in the business of selling, so I am going to try to make you feel shabby if you use them rather than my product.” I mean, is this really supposed to be all about fashion? & does it really matter if your grocery bags ARE someone else’s idea of “fashionable”? Sheesh.

Hint: bags only end up in a landfill if you put them there. Plastic bags are recyclable when they break. If you use them, and your supermarket doesn’t offer recycling for them, press your supermarket to do so! If you have a problem with recycling, you can look for sustainable organic cloth bags, too.

I notice Mark doesn’t address my objection to the idea of actually carrying “two plastic bags’ worth of groceries in one bag.” & what’s the manufacturing process on a polyester tote? & its own recyclability? How far is it being shipped? Etc etc.

It’s fine to not want to use plastic bags, but don’t let someone who owns or works for a company make you feel like you need to buy their products in order to accomplish it. It’s not even that the bags aren’t cute – they are. But if you’re really interested in being environmentally friendly, it’s probably better to use what you have. (I was going to say, “Or things available in your area,” but there’s probably a lot of shipping involved in that, too.) If you don’t have anything and want to get something, there are lots of options, some of which don’t come with condescending marketing attached.

On another note, the underground dog-waste thingie that Lisa mentions, that uses enzymes to break down the waste, is a genius product. I think most larger pet stores sell it. However, you do need to have a yard to use it, so I think apartment dwellers might be out of luck.