When we were in London, I realized that all the grocery stores sold reusable shopping bags, and charged for the disposable plastic ones. I bought a few because I liked them. I also liked the idea of reusing them too.
Now Wegman's sells canvas bags and we got two of them. They are big, sturdy and even have rivets so the cashier can hang them on the bag holders to fill them easily. I certainly hope they catch on!
Yup! When I went back to Taiwan to visit family, they charged $.10 for each plastic bag. I've seen nothing like that in Washington yet though.
ReplyDeleteTrader Joe's and lots of other eco-minded grocery stores and co-ops sell them in Washington state... Even My store (a pet food and supply store) sells them! No one charges for bags, but often places offer incentives for using them.
ReplyDeletei LOVE cloth grocery bags! I have a few that I've bought here and there and I also have a few market bags that I have knitted for such purposes!
ReplyDeleteI have one from Trader Joe's here in California.
ReplyDeleteAh, Wegman's! I miss them! They were voted by Fortune magazine as 2nd Best Company to Work For.
The grocery stores in London don't charge for ordinary plastic bags anymore, but they still sell reusable ones for 10p, which have a lifetime guarantee! Not nearly as cool as your new one though!
ReplyDeleteAt my grocery store in Japan, I bought one of the reusable shopping bags they were selling and got a stamp card -- every ten times I use my bag, I get 100 yen off ($1). Woo hoo! Plus the bag is bright pink and says, "Working with Nature" in a really cute font. So I'm happy.
ReplyDeleteWe're all about the reusable bags - we use every shape and size - usually grabbing free ones that our parents have acquired from work, meetings, groups etc. Most of the grocery stores around us give us $.05 off our grocery order for each bag we use so we actually get a bonus for being nice to the environment :)
ReplyDeletep.s. Loved your Christmas theme this year! Great crafts - thanks for sharing.
Hi Jenny
ReplyDeleteI love your site. I tried to make the Reindeer Mix the other night and my chocolate congealed and hardened over the cereal mixture and it made it a big block. How do you mix yours??
Hey, there's grocery stores in Canada (Price Chopper, No Frills), that charge for bags. Not sure how much exactly, we always bring our own plastic bags from other places (there never seems to be any shortage of them!). I don't think they sell cloth bags, but that would be a super idea - especially if they were as nice looking as yours!
ReplyDeleteWe purchased bags from our grocery store years ago and get a $.05 credit each time we use one -- they have paid for themselves many times by now. They hold a TON of groceries and are great for toting things to the beach (or wherever). I love that they're washable, too.
ReplyDeleteThe plastic bags are charged 0.04$ each at Superstore (in Canada). But they encourage people to buy this big purple or green plastic bins to reuse and carry the groceries. They even designed the bins so that 5 of them fit perfectly into a grocery cart.
ReplyDeleteReindeer Mix maker - I just stir the white chocolate in as soon as I pour it on so everything is nice and coated and then I spread it out on cookie sheets on wax paper... oooh... I guess I forgot to mention that part on my project page... I will go add it.
ReplyDeleteMy bank happened to be giving them away when they opened a branch in my supermarket. And the store usually gives a small discount for each bag you bring in. I keep forgetting to take my cloth bags to the store, but soon remember when my stash of plastic bags gets really large.
ReplyDeleteI was in Marks & Spencer in England and picked up this large tote with no price tag. The huge sucker turned out to be only 1.55 (pounds)! It's a little on the ugly side but I can now curb the overflow of plastic bags under my sink!
ReplyDeletewyn
Hi,
ReplyDeleteHere in australia all the major department stores and grocery stores have reusable cloth bags, which fit perfectly into the little metal packing brackets..
Plastic bags are to be phased out here by 2007 I think..
Yay for this change finally happening- and it spreading globally!
I enjoy your blog.
Hey Jenny, how's Tina doing?
ReplyDeleteanother good source for bags is reusable bags.
ReplyDeleteSuperstore in Canada also have more industrial strength plastic bags that shoppers can buy to re-use. I usually forget to take mine with me - duh!
ReplyDeleteIs is silly to kind of want a Trader Joe's re-useable bag?
The best reusable grocery bags ever are called greenbags. I got mine at Whole Foods Market in San Francisco for $1.49. They are large, sturdy, washable, antibacterial and made from recycled material. They're the best! It's nice to know that people all over the country are using their own bags!I I don't have a financial stake in the company but I wish I did!)
ReplyDeletei work for a local council in London. I am the waste prevention officer. At the moment I am designing some cotton bags. We will be ordering 10,000 of them. Just wanted to know your opinion: cotton bags or stronger large ones? I like cotton bags 'cos they dont take space, but they arent big enough. However, for my weekly shopping I use the stronger large ones.
ReplyDeletewww.wasteminimisation.com