Guide to Reusable Shopping Bags
You are NOT still using the store’s plastic or paper bags, ARE YOU? We didn’t think so. We also thought that you might actually need MORE reusable shopping bags because, now, you take them with you everywhere, right? Guilt trip aside, we all know how damaging plastic bags are for our environment and that paper bags deplete precious resources. Just in case you need more info, some great articles on the subject are listed at the end of the article.
We combed the net far and wide to bring you our reusable bag favorites. Indeed, this little “Reusable Shopping Bag Guide” presents bags in every price point, material, style, functionality and color that you can imagine. Certainly, you’ll find a set to match your needs.
The ChicoBag rePETe shopping bag is made from 99% recycled content by weight. Each rePETe has uniquely accented handles with the phrase “This bag is made from 7 plastic bottles!”. A list of the recycled materials used in manufacturing the rePETe is printed on the inside of each bag. Each bag has an integrated stuff pouch and will hold 25 lbs. The Chico Bag rePETe retails for $9.00.
The Onya bags are made of strong, light-weight parachute fabric. They can be stuffed in the tiny integrated pouch and clipped on a key ring for easy transportation. Each bag weighs only 1.8oz. Holds over 20 lbs and retails for $12.95 each.
I gave a set of Envirosax bags to my mom and sister a couple of years ago and they love them. The Envirosax bags are lightweight, portable and waterproof. You can buy them individually ($8.95) or in a 5-bag set that comes in a convenient pouch ($37.95). Fun, colorful series. Each bag holds 40 lbs but only weigh 1.4oz itself!
The Baggu Bag can be carried in your hand or over the shoulder. It holds the contents of 2-3 plastic grocery bags and folds into a flat 5″ by 5″ pouch. Each bag holds 25 lbs. They retail from $6.50 to $8.00 depending on the quantity. We love that these come in every color of the rainbow.
Reusable Bags Depot Bags come in a variety of patterns. They feature a small outside pocket and fold inside a small pouch. They have long handles for versatile carrying. Each bag carries 2 to 3 times as much as a common plastic bag and retails for $7.95.
The its-laS-tik™ bag serve the socially conscious AND the fashion conscious. We love that these shopping bags are made of stretchy, flexible nylon and lycra blend in deliciously loud colors and prints. They stretch to take the shape of what you put into them and then, they bounce right back to their original shape. They are manufactured in New Orleans, in a factory destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and rebuilt by survivors. 5% of profits from the sale of its-laS-tik™ are donated to a charity in New Orleans. Prices vary from $11.99 to $24.99 depending on size.
The Great Bag company chooses to hand make their bags in the USA out of 100% cotton, a sustainable resource after all, that makes a soft and durable bag. We love the tabs that hook onto the bag holders in the grocery stores for easy loading. Each Great Bag carries up to 40 pounds and weighs 8oz itself. Regularly priced at $19.99, they are currently on sale for $16.99.
The Gracen bag designers call their bags “functional luxury”. These are indeed a very elegant and stylish solution. Each Gracen bag is roomy enough to hold two gallons of milk, and strong enough to hold whatever else you throw on top. A set of 2 is $66.00.
The “Follow Your Conscience” reusable shopping bag set includes four chocolate brown bags, conveniently rolled up to fit in a small pouch that can fit into any purse or glove box. Regularly priced at $30.00, they are currently on sale for $20.00.
The flip & tumble bag is a Patent Pending pouch system works kind of like rolling your socks into a ball, so compacting your bag is a cinch. The bag is has a wonderful 26″ strap to carry the bag on your shoulder. The “sockball” is 3” in diameter, about the size of a peach. Each bag carries 25 lbs. Priced at $12.00 each.
The RuMe Bags come in coordinating sets of three, in fun patterns or solid colors. Each bag has a nice long handle to carry the bag in hand or over the shoulder. It holds up to 50 lbs. RuMe has decided not to include a pouch but rather to use their patent pending enclosure system enables three bags to roll up to about the size of your cup of coffee. Cool! Sets of 3 are priced at $29.85 or individually at $9.95.
The B Happy Bags are made in Phoenix, AZ, in all sorts of prints, because their philosophy is that green doesn’t have to be beige. Their solid colored bags are made of fabric from recycled water bottles. Prints are 100% cotton. Each bag retails for $26.00.
The Sackaroo is actually a system and perhaps the most utilitarian of our picks. The starter system includes the Sackaroos™ Pouch and four reusable shopping bags (the pouch actually holds up to 12 bags). Each bag is equivalent to two plastic grocery bags and will hold approximately 25 pounds. The starter set retails for $34.95.
Told you! Something for everyone. Also note that many of these reusable bag companies also offer reusable produce bags so that you can be even more environmentally friendly. Let us know if you’ve used any of these and whether you would indeed recommend them.
Oh, and here are those reference articles:
I love reusable bags. Coming from the Netherlands where we recycle, economize, and live pretty green, I’m not used to stores actually giving you a plastic bag. You have to bring your own. A store-bagcosts you like 10 cents per piece.
Now, I have moved to Asia, where you can’t leave the store without a bag for every seperate item. It’s a horror. They do not put fresh foods in the same bag as dry foods, not to mention putting a box of meusli in the same bag as a pair of socks. This means that I always endo up leaving the store with 15 half-full plastic bags. Somehow, they use the plastic bags to check at the exit whether your things have been checked out or not. You can’t take anything out from the store that is not in a store-bag. Isn’t that just a waste?
Now, I re-use the bags for my garbage, but I really do not see a way around all these plastic bags. Perhaps, I can return them to the store…
Suzanne ~ it seems that you could be leading a green campaign over there, in whichever Asian country you find yourself. Yes, Europe is much more aware than the US with all eco concerns. In fact, many of the reusable bags mentioned in the guide either come from Europe or Australia. We still have a way to go but we are most definitely getting there!
Let’s not forget that paper bags are made by paper companies who REPLANT their “precious resources” when they harvest them. What company would not? It is the most logical thing to do, so you don’t have to keep buying property that becomes useless after the first harvest. That’s what tree farms are all about.
Just like corn, wheat, oranges, and any other edible products are farmed, so are trees. My town was once covered with them. They’re more out to the west of us now that population has made the land more valuable for development, but home builders still sell the wood from trees that are cut to make way for hosues or buildings being built.
That said, I have four kids and 3 stepkids. Our family has 9 mouths to feed. I don’t shop every day, so when I do, it’s a big load withlots of bags. I use paper. Then I use them to hold recycleable products in my recycling bin until they are picked up weekly.
I don’t have a problem with that.
We need to be careful that our being “green” doesn’t border on the ridiculous, or that we don’t wear ourselves out by incessantly congratulating ourselves for useless cleverness. Green is good. being overbearing about it is not.
Laura ~ I agree that fanaticism of any kind is never healthy. I often forget or run out of bags when grocery shopping and need to walk with either paper or plastic bags. Paper is my first choice when there is a choice, like at Trader Joe’s. My reflexes are not honed quite well enough to ALWAYS remember to bring my reusable bags with me. And, I too use paper bags to sort and carry my recyclables at home. Still, I beg to differ, for several reasons, on your point about the ok-ness of using paper bags. Many countries do not replant trees but simply rape the land and endanger the environment. The whole process of manufacturing paper is damaging to our environment. And then, you can read this article by another of the reusable shopping bag supplier (unfortunately not mentioned in my guide) for some other really good points about why we should aim to “reuse”. We do what what we can, huh?
[...] Succulent Wife: Guide to Reusable Shopping Bags “We’ve scoured the net to bring you the best designed, most colorful, functional and [...]
I still use the store’s plastic bags.
I get over $200 worth of groceries when I go shopping so I opt for the more convenient method. I reuse the plastic bags for diapers and other trash.
Davida
I grew up in a family of 7, and I think that everybody should attempt to reduce the burdens that industrialism has placed on our air, water, and resources. I know what it is like to check-out with 2 or 3 SHOPPING CARTS FULL of food, and to use a lot of bags.
These days, I have a [much] smaller family, but I carry about 20 reusable shopping bags in my trunk at any given time. If you take 20, but the shopping fills up more, that is okay…but at least you have saved the use of 20 paper or plastic bags.
We should all do a little to help reduce all the waste in the world, even if we are not forced to do so by bag fees. (Many stores in U.S. are now charging bag fees, by the way.)
Generations before us were not so wasteful. Many used flour sack cloth to wrap and carry store bought items…
This is a great article although I am rather surprised at some of the comments
Like you said, the manufacturing of paper is the biggest problem with paper bags… The oil dependency of our country is often stated as the biggest problem with plastic.
Anyhow, I use reusable bags almost always now. I do forget sometimes
The nice thing is, I can fit at least twice as much into a reusable bag and they never split when I am carrying them!
I have several reusable bags, but am really bad about remembering to use them. I actually carry them into the store and still forget. At least I am remembering to carry them. I do return all bags for recycling, though. Baby steps I say.
I recently bought 2 reusable bags. I should have done it a long time ago, but oh well, it’s never too late.
I’m just pleased that you posted a list of reusable bags available that don’t cost a small fortune! I have seen giveaways on other blogs for reusable bags and then when you go to their site, they are EXPENSIVE. I’m subscribed now so I can get updates and remember to check out the products you have listed here. I’ve been wanting to get some reusable bags for awhile now.
We do reuse bags for one of the stores we shop at (Aldi). I think they charge for the bags (my hubby does the shopping!) and even though they’re plastic, we save those and reuse them when we shop there. Everywhere else, though, we just end up with 50 plastic bags because they put like 2 items in each bag. Even if you aren’t one who is particularly eco-conscious (I’m really not), that’s just plain wasteful.
Well done in promoting the use of reusable bags. I had also written about the use of reusable bags before here – http://lifeislikethat.com/?p=885.
awesome article. I LOVE resusable bags, I have a ton but just a few faves. I even have a giveaway on my site for a Flip and Tumble right now if you want to check it out.
Just wanted to let you know that I received my giveaway prize- the flip and tumble reusable bags. I love them! I’ve already used them once and they were so handy. I had some reusable bags already but they are really bulky so I don’t like to keep them in my purse. Of course this leads to forgetting the bags when I need them! But the flip and tumble bags are weightless and so they are perfect. I’ve put them in the diaper bag so I have them at all times.
Thanks for the giveaway!
What an awesome list of reusable bag resources. I actually won a few of the its-laS-tik bags and LOVE them. They are so soft and they stretch too. Not sure what exactly I’ll use them for yet but I don’t think you can ever have too many reusable bags. Hubby and I buy them from each grocery store we shop at and I especially love the one we got from The Fresh Market (keeps food cold for over an hour) and the ones from Trader Joe’s too.
But now that I see this list, I might have to do a bit more bag shopping! And then I just have to remember to bring in the bags when we grocery shop LOL
Thanks for a great resource.
I just recieved my ‘follow your conscience’ bags. Thank you soooo much. I love the statements they make, but more importantly I love that they have a carrying pouch. I have used them already and they are so easy to fold back up to fit in their carrying pouch. I slip all four bags nicely under my driver’s seat. No more clutter.
I also received the follow your conscience bags and love them. I was expecting the bags to be tiny but there big and can carry so much. They fold up so small and the pouch they came with is wonderful. It is a very nice well made set and enjoy having them.
Hello there,
I love all of these bags, and the ones that fold down to fit in the purse are the best idea ever.
the bags are so gorgeous that it’s now cool to be green. XD
Love reading this because I must own about 50 reusable shopping bags never can get enough. Thinking of decorating them too!
I’ve been using my canvas shopping bags for at least 15 years and have a farmer’s market basket which is almost ready to expire. Thanks for the article about quitting the plastic habit! Here is a web site that I bookmarked a while back that might be of interest on how to make your own bags. http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=177482.0
Beryl, For those who enjoy sewing, that is a fun reusable bag pattern to construct. Thanks for sharing!
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