Reusable grocery bags

[ShyMer]

So I've been shopping at Walmart for all of our groceries (besides what we get from Costco on the weekends) and we always end up with a ton of plastic bags. They can be useful for other stuff, but man, we have so many. Sometimes I come home with bags that only have two items in it, and it might even be double bagged itself. It's a little shocking when I remember the food lion that I used to go to in Towson packed their bags full, even sometimes putting raw meat with other items, which is another story I guess:/


Anyways, I think I wanna get into reusable bags. I have a couple small ones I've gotten from people but never used, but I'd like to make my own as well. I was hoping we could post links here to patterns and ideas for reusable grocery bags that we've found.

This site (http://tipnut.com/35-reusable-grocery-bags-totes-free-patterns/) has a ton of bag ideas, none of which I've tried yet.


Also anyone have tips for actually getting cashiers to use my bags properly? I feel like they'd squish my groceries or try to bag them all in plastic anyway. They have their own reusable bags in the checkout now, but I don't ever see anyone using them here.

[SilverSiren]

I have quite a few reusable bags and always use them, I just stick them on the back of my door handle so when I go out I wont forget them. I have a few I have made as well, which is easy! Just need a big t-shirt of any color that takes your fancy! Check out the no-sew one I posted below and the link after is one you can sew!

No-sew version
http://www.leethal.net/zine/?p=1344

Sew up version
http://www.instructables.com/id/FASTEST-RECYCLED-T-SHIRT-TOTE-BAG/

I love t-shirt bags, they can be really fun. I have a shop here that sells some cute shirts that I wouldn't wear personally as a shirt but LOVE as a bag, plus the shirts are usually only like 5 to 10 dollars depending on how fancy the design is. Or you can hunt for cute shirts at the charity shop.

[Morticia Mermaid]

Theres a tutorial video on youtube too that shows how to take all the plastic bags you get and using THOSE to make reusable grocery bags :) Thought it was a nifty idea

[Morticia Mermaid]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SERA-c82Vmo <-- link to re-purposing plastic grocery sacks

[Ophelia]

My rule is that if I can carry it all to the register, I can certainly carry them out. It bothers the hell out of me when they go and try to bag, say, a single candybar. Don't be afraid to speak up and say "Hey, I don't need bags please." I do it allllll the time, theres really no reason NOT to speak up, its just less work for them really. I hardly ever remember to bring in my reusable ones, but I use any plastic ones I receive to contain all my crafty type stuff, use as "gloves" sort of when cleaning my rats cages, etc. I just try not to bring them home to begin with.

[Triton-Mahtlinnie]

I've always just sent my bags down in front of my groceries so the cashier has 'em first. I've never had a cashier get the reusable bags, then try and plastic bag em.

Course, my city just recently banned plastic bags altogether, so your mileage may vary.

[Mermaid Fenicia]

Here in Belgium you have to pay in most shops for plastic bags. So I carry a few fold-up-fabric bags with me. The don't take any space in my bag as they fold very small into a little fabric holder. ;)

[Karymermaid]

Reuse and re-purpose, it's not that difficult right? But it is a lot easier for people to get their purchases bagged. So here in California there is a bill (298) to ban the plastic bag altogether. I think this would be great! If you are from Cali, and you haven't heard of this, check it out http://action.surfrider.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=6373

Ophelia, just like you, I also carry my stuff out, either in my purse or in my hands. The cashiers sometimes give me a funny look or are surprised, and though I am terribly shy, I speak up, always. Today I carried out some supplies from Michael's right in my purse (yaii! hair pins and pearls!!)

Lexia, that video is awesome! I actually have been crocheting plastic bags to make bracelets and necklaces. I'll try to make some bags/purses now too :)

ShyMer, at my local Walmart, there are some bins at the exit for recycling plastic bags. The last time I was there, the lady DOUBLE bagged my items, every single one! I wasn't paying attention (I was with my husband) and when I looked, I was shocked! I headed down to the recycling bin and threw most of the bags in there, I just took home about two bags. :/ double bagging really double bugs me!

[Kanti]

Holy sweet Jesus
That video where she crochets them into one big plastic-bag fabric piece is awesome o_O
Super creative and useful~

[ShyMer]

I've gone and used bags at a couple Walmarts now, it seems like the cashiers I've been with didn't mind the bags at all. Putting them on the belt in front of my stuff seems to work just fine.

Also- don't bring reusable bags to Costco. A woman was trying to use them yesterday and it really slowed the bagger down. My husband said that they really hate when people bring them because they don't use bags anyway and it's hard to fit a lot of the things they have in a bag. I think if you went to a store like that and wanted to use bags, maybe push your cart to the side after checkout and bag them yourself.

[Mermaid Celissa]

For now, you can use all those Wal-Mart bags as trash bags like I do. Just slip it around the edge of the trashcan and bada-bing bada-boom, you can start reusing the bags!

[ShyMer]

Yeah, I don't buy trash bags... we have always used grocery bags for it. It's pretty convenient for rat bedding too. I'm going to always keep a bag of bags under the sink for various uses.