canvas bags for groceries

[meiserlee]

does anyone else out there buy canvas bags for reuse at the grocery store?  i just started and have found quite a few so far.  they tend to be somewhat overpriced, although i did find a pretty good sized one for 35 cents.  you can bet i snatched that one up.
i love the different and funny advertisements that most of them come with.   especially the mental health center ones.  it's an inside joke with me and my husband.  we have a local mental health facility and he always tells me that my daypass is getting ready to expire and he's got to take me back.  haha.  i married a dork. 

[Thrift Shop Romantic]

Well, he does have a sense of humor! (Probably less funny though after you've heard that about, oh, a million times. :-) )

[alexandra]

OMG... I posted a topic on my blog about this today... well a bit at the end.

I took two cotton muscle t-shirts and sewed up the bottoms.  They sleeves make perfect handles and the bag is wider at the bottom than the top, because of the way the shirts are shaped.

If you go over to my blog and read today's topic (is that a shameless plug?), you'll see pictures of them.  At Goodwill today, I had them put my purchases in them -- I am sick of plastic shopping bags, and wanted to recycle something I'd otherwise have gotten rid of.

Thriftily,
Alexandra
www.livingwithoutmoney.blogspot.com

[MrsGoodwill]

I HATE plastic bags! I have several, big reusable bags that I bought from the supermarket when I was living in England. I have had them for more than a few years and they are still in great condition!

[lizardsally]

OMG yes, my trunk is FULL of them!  I'm always picking them up at rummage sales, and I *usually* remember to take them out when I go grocery shopping.  I need to remember to take with me when I go thrifting too!  I try to use as few plastic bags as possible - if I didn't remember to bring a canvas one into the store with me I will usually refuse to take a bag at all.  After all, if I can carry something around the store without a bag I think I can make it to my car without one . . .

[Sprocket]

I was inspired by the ideas here regarding using canvas bags, or some plastic alternative, for shopping.  I grabbed a couple of bags that were given to me at a business meeting a few months ago and put them in my car.  Today I dropped by Wal-Mart to pick up a few things and the greeter would not let me in with my bags.  The manager  said that all bags have to be checked (left) at customer service.  I left in dismay.  I stopped at the grocery store on the way home and took my bag in with me and a undercover security guard followed me around the whole time. 

[Big Daddy Audio]

You guys have to move to Phoenix!  We keep a Trader Joe canvas bag full of plastic bags in the van that we re-use each time we go to the supermarket.  For each one we use, we get $.05 off to order (eg - 17 bags would be $.85 off). 

That is all.

[Jay2TheRescue]

I was inspired by the ideas here regarding using canvas bags, or some plastic alternative, for shopping.  I grabbed a couple of bags that were given to me at a business meeting a few months ago and put them in my car.  Today I dropped by Wal-Mart to pick up a few things and the greeter would not let me in with my bags.  The manager  said that all bags have to be checked (left) at customer service.  I left in dismay.  I stopped at the grocery store on the way home and took my bag in with me and a undercover security guard followed me around the whole time. 

Here in the DC area the grocery stores sell reusable canvas grocery bags.  My mom has several from various stores.  Baby blue ones from Bloom, orange ones from Bottom Dollar, (both are Food Lion brands), and I think the red ones are from Giant. 

-Jay

[Cookie]

Good Buddy and I used to live in Tempe, AZ, and I miss Trader Joe's so much.  Love the bargain prices there, especially the cheap wine.    We keep all of our plastic grocery bags and re-use them for cleaning out the cat box.  With four cats we need all the bags we can get.

[lizardsally]

I can't believe Wal Mart wouldn't let you in with your canvas bags -  WTF!  I remember one occasion years ago when I was buying ONE item at Wal Mart and I told the cashier I didn't want a bag and she forced me to take one - she said that I wouldn't be allowed out of the store without a bag - even if I had my receipt in hand.  I called her bluff and made her call the manager over who assured me that I did not have to take a bag if I didn't want one. 

Just this past weekend Lee dragged me to Wal Mart (he buys DVDs there - I absolutely hate the place and do not buy anything there at all) and I brought in my own canvas bags, no problems at all.  So I bet it depends who is working on the day you go in.  I would have thrown an absolute fit if they wouldn't let me bring in my own bags - just proves my point that Wal Mart couldn't give a crap about the environment or anything except their profits.

[Jay2TheRescue]

Good Buddy and I used to live in Tempe, AZ, and I miss Trader Joe's so much.  Love the bargain prices there, especially the cheap wine.    We keep all of our plastic grocery bags and re-use them for cleaning out the cat box.  With four cats we need all the bags we can get.

You miss the Two Buck Chuck?  The Washington Post did a wine review a while back and the Trader Joe's Two Buck Chuck was rated very highly despite its low price.  Personally my family loves the cheesecake.  Its cheaper to buy it at Trader Joe's than to make it!  I really don't know how they can sell cheesecake for $5, but they do.

-Jay

[alexandra]

Hmmm... haven't tried to use my bags at Wallies -- if I'm grocery shopping, I need too many. I also don't want to put meat in reusable bags.  But the bags they use at Wallies always seem to need to be doubled -- they are always splitting.

My T-shirt bags can fit in my purse.  I also have an old net one that I got at an organic grocer over twenty years ago!  I'm going to have to try them at Wallies -- on a day I'm buying a lot of little stuff.  If they refuse to let me use it, I'll have to have them void my order -- and then I'll write a letter to the local news outlets.  And they'll have to reshop my entire order.  Hey... maybe that's a good protest tactic for many environmentally oriented folks to employ? 

There are a few regional grocery store chains in our city -- and they encourage the use of re-usable bags.  Wallies ain't the most progressive organization...

Thriftily,
Alexandra
www.livingwithoutmoney.blogspot.com

ps. being a real bargain hunter, I scour stores and end up being followed around -- it's their payroll $$, if they want to waste them, that's their problem!

[Cookie]

You miss the Two Buck Chuck?  The Washington Post did a wine review a while back and the Trader Joe's Two Buck Chuck was rated very highly despite its low price.  Personally my family loves the cheesecake.  Its cheaper to buy it at Trader Joe's than to make it!  I really don't know how they can sell cheesecake for $5, but they do.

-Jay

Good, cheap wine cannot be overrated.  I was glad to hear a wine expert on NPR a few weeks ago saying that just because a wine is expensive doesn't mean it's good.  I don't know how they can make money on that cheesecake either.  That is definitely cheaper (and faster!) than making it.

[Mattie]

Trader Joe's has a program to encourage reusable bags.  Every time you bring your own bag, you fill out a card and are entered in a contest to win a $25 TJ's gift card.  They pick a winner every month.  I've been filling out a card every week for ages and I haven't won...yet!

I've had the bad habit of asking for double plastic bags at Target, though, because they're great poop-scoopin' bags.  However, I recently discovered that the plastic wrappers on packages of 3-ring binder dividers (which I use in vast quantities at work) can be slit open at the top rather than torn off, and they make perfectly good poop bags.  They're smaller and thinner so they fit in my pocket better, too. 

Of course, if I could train Gromit to use the toilet it would solve the whole problem.

[ChrisMiss]

I noticed the bag shown below on ebay and got a good chuckle from it.  It's designed by Anya Hindmarch.  An eco-friendly bag that can be yours for only $99 buy it now!!!! 

No thank you, I'll get mine at the thrift stores or if I wasn't so lazy I'd design my own like Alexandra and others have done here on the forum.  There's a new business for you, design some bags and sell; you'll make a fortune.