As I’ve mentioned here before, I go to my neighborhood Whole Foods a lot—an average of about . 75 times a day. Since I go so often, I try to remember (though I usually forget) to stuff a couple of their plastic bags in my purse when I leave the apartment so that I can reuse them, get 10 cents off my groceries, and feel just a little bit smug. Whole Foods has seemed proud of its plastic bags, displaying signs touting their strength (they can hold “up to 25 pounds”), which makes double-bagging a thing of the past. They really are good bags.
But not long ago, Whole Foods announced plans to entirely phase out their plastic bags by Earth Day, further compelling us shoppers to bring our own. And if you forget your own? Your punishment is a paper bag.
I never really had anything against paper grocery bags until my Whole Foods checker gave me one today. She actually gave me two, double bagging them. The feel of the crisp 100% recycled paper was kind of a refreshing change at first, until I walked the 10 minutes back to my apartment with the hefty load during rush hour. Talk about chafing! And there’s no way I’m going to fold this stiff paper up in my purse to re-use tomorrow. (It wouldn’t fit, actually.) I suppose I’ll eventually have to settle on a couple of compact nylon sacks to slip in my purse, sometimes, when I remember.
But what to do with all those paper bags we’ll surely be amassing? Whole Foods is one step ahead of us, offering up five things we can do to “keep this bag alive” right on the side of the bag. How handy! The list includes wrapping a gift with it, putting something in it and giving it to the needy (I say this one doesn’t really count, since a plastic bag is arguably preferable for this use), and making a paper airplane. So we may have higher fuel costs for shipping the to-be-doubled paper bags, and chafed hands from carrying them, and guilty consciences for taking them, but we’ll at least have an endless supply of paper planes to throw at each other for the foreseeable future.
When I was a kid, my parents always opted for paper over plastic (do you remember when you had a choice?). Paper bags always came in handy and they were used for all kinds of things around the house. My sister and I used them to cover our school books at the beginning of the year. My parents used them in lieu of paper towels for putting hot food on (such as cookies or other baked goods) to cool. They also came in handy to cover a table so you could have a messy workspace for painting or gluing or other crafty things - just cut along the creases on one side.
I’m not necessarily recommending them - here in France I have a shopping basket and a couple of reinforced plastic bags that I take to the grocery with me - but if you do end up with a few, they do come in handy.
Yes, they remind me childhood too. There’s just a small part of me that’s going to resent them for replacing my plastic bags!
I told you so!!!!
I just toss them. Or, I should say, “I create a fun ball out of my paper bag to practice hoops with!”
here in the people’s republic of berkeley, we have to put our paper recycling in a paper bag in order for the recycling folks to take it, so we need a constant supply on hand. a little ridiculous, no?
If you have a Vitamin Shoppe in town, I’d suggest getting some of these: http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/store/en/browse/sku_detail.jsp?id=C9-1001. So tiny but so strong with pockets and everything. It folds up into itself. I love mine.
I strive to carry shopping bags with me. My boyfriend always gives me dirty looks if I don’t take my own canvas bags with me to the grocery store. But the thing is, I often stop unplanned at the grocery store on the way home from something else, so I don’t have my canvas bags with me. Plastic is very handy for this - they fold up really small, so you can always have one tucked in a side pocket somewhere. I understand the problem of plastic bags, but they’re handy for other things as well (sweaty gym clothes, for instance). I guess the Vitamin Shoppe bags would work almost as well for that, though.
Honestly, I think the reason they’re switching to paper is precisely because they are so inconvenient. They want to encourage everyone to bring in their own, non-disposable bags.
I’ve made bunches of fabric grocery and see-through produce bags out of old sheets and sheer curtains (I got 10 bags out of one sheet). They are really really easy and really cute. If you could sew that doggy, you can do those. It’s just straight sewing. I wrote up the tutorials on my site awhile back.
And the people at Whole Foods go crazy for them when I bring them in. I get thanked by every person that sees them.
Weavers love paper grocery bags. We request them. We use them to warp looms to keep the warp threads from embedding themselves into each layer of threads, so you cut open a paper bag and layer it in between turns of your warp. After they wear out, they go in the recycle bin. Find a weaver and see if he or she can use them.
There are a lot of things that people can use paper bags for. My favorites were always covering my textbooks or for a cooling rack for cookies (mmm…. cookies).
There was the hemp grocery back in Knitty a few months ago. I’d be tempted to make that for my Whole Foods shopping needs.
Free plastic bags were banned from supermarkets here in Germany more than 20 years ago (and there never were people who packed your groceries for you). You can still buy plastic bags at supermarkets, but by now pretty much everyone is used to bringing their own bags or baskets or whatever when they go shopping. I always put a cotton or canvas bag folded up in my handbag, just in case I go shopping.
When my previous cloth grocery bag gave up the ghost this year I did some research and found the solution — furoshiki cloth.
I couldn’t find any here in Stockholm, but I bought a thin tight weave cotton square scarf (105×105cm) and it’s perfect. Mine is in my purse and if I go shopping it fits all my purchases that I can carry.
Another reason why I chose it was that I could alter the shape of the bag if I wanted to, just by tying the knots differently.
We use paper shopping bags as kitchen recycling containers.
When you could choose between paper and plastic we used to choose paper and use them as our trash liners in the garbage can. They decompose quicker.
They are also recyclable. That’s nice.
You could knit a shopping bag out of cotton or bamboo yarn.
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/search?query=shopping+bag&s=
I like the paper bags and have always found many uses for them! Here are some things I do with them:
* Cut them to computer paper size and use them as craft paper (for printing labels for crafts, etc.).
* Empty small contents of garbage to take out to the garbage bin outdoors.
* Cut them open and using them for wrapping paper. Tie with jute string.
* Open them and give them to pets. Rabbits and cats especially love them. Just please, pull one end of each handle loose from the bag . . . my cat found this out the hard way!
If you’re looking for reusable bags…Target has some nifty ones that fold up to a fairly small size and snap. They’re big, durable, have a cute little tree with birds…and it’s only $1.50.
I’m a huge fan of the Kiva bags. They zip up into a tiny form factor and can hold more than a normal plastic bag. I keep one in my car for unplanned shopping trips, and it easily fits in my purse (or clips to my beltloop if I’m traveling light).
http://www.amazon.com/Kiva-Key-Chain-Convertible-Tote/dp/B000BNDFLC
I have a set of Envirosax. They are ridiculously sturdy, lightweight, roll up super small, and are pretty too! I always get compliments on them…and as an added bonus, the handles fit over the existing plastic bag holder at the end of the checkout…so they are easy to load!
http://www.delight.com/Envirosax-Delightfully-Pretty-Reusable-Grocery-Bags
Paper bags make great kites for kids. The big grocery bag kites need a lot of wind, while the lunch bag size fly in a gentle breeze. I’ve made paper bag kites for my kids when we’ve forgotten our regular ones.