Why or why don't you use cloth shopping bags instead of plastic?

Question

There is a shift happening in the way we do our grocery shopping and it has to do with the bags we use. More and more cloth shopping bags are popping up and I would like to gather a little information about them. Do you use cloth shopping bags to do your shopping? If you do, what is it that you like about them? What do you dislike? What would prompt you to use them more often? Would you use them for shopping outside of the grocery store? If you do not use cloth shopping bags, why don't you? What would cause you to use them?

Answer 1

I think they're great and have several but often forget to take them to the store with me. I've started leaving one in the car but still forget to grab it when I'm in a hurry. I'm sure I'll get more consistent about using them once I adjust to the change.

I do still need a few plastic bags for trash but between recycling and composting, I have less trash than before. I think everyone should make an effort to be more responsible for taking better care of our planet and conserving natural resources.

P.S. There was a valid point made about having to wash them. They aren't good for everything but at least using them for clean, dry items will reduce plastic usage resulting in less trash on the roads and in the landfills. Even doing a little is better than doing nothing.

Answer 2

I use cloth bags as often as possible.  I try to refuse plastic bags if I forget my cloth ones.  They don't really need to be cleaned all that often.  Maybe once per 6 months.  I use cloth bags to cut down on waste.  Every pound of waste I don't generate is a pound the garbage man doesn't have to carry to the dump.

Answer 3

I do not use cloth bags.  I use the plastic bags provided.  I go to the store ever few weeks, so I buy alot at once.  I wouldnt want to hand the bagger 20 cloth bags and watch them struggle putting the groceries in the different bags.  I also use the plastic bags for garbage cans in my bathrooms, and to hold dirty washcloths in the kitchen.  too much hastle to use the cloth bags, buy the cloth bags, and wash the cloth bags.

Answer 4

I have cloth grocery bags, but I usually forget to take them to the store with me. I like them because they hold alot more than the plastic bags (for example, 2 gallons of milk), and they reduce the number of plastic bags I have to do something with.

The only thing I dislike about the ones I have is that they are bright blue with the grocery store's red and white logo on them. UGLY!!!! A few weeks after I purchased them, the store came out with some really cute ones.

And yes, I have taken them to WalMart before. I usually just get really confused looks from the cashiers (even at the grocery store) because the town I live in is filled with a bunch of hicks whose idea of recycling is using a beer can as a urinal.

There are some pros to the plastic bags, though. They're good for getting rid of disgusting messes (like cat by-products) that you don't want to leak or ooze everywhere. They're also good for using as trash can liners in the bathrooms. And sometimes I take them to the food pantry at church so they can use them to bag up food for people.

Answer 5

Many stores are changing to cloth bags. The world is going GREEN! Plactic is bad for the world. Cloth is reusable

Answer 6

No don't use them,  don't really care to, if they were free I guess I might,  I don't see the big deal about plastic, we reuse them for the small trash cans in the bathrooms.

Answer 7

I buy fresh fruits and vegetables, and when I buy small (one of each) I sometimes don't use the individual plastic bags.   I also buy meat, and the package sometimes leaks.  It would take more energy to wash the cloth bag every time I went shopping than it does to just use the plastic shopping bags.    And the alternative IS salmonella.

Also many purchase decisions are made on the fly - - the kids and I are on the way back from the playground and the sign says there's a sale on X - I realize that I can just buy X and, together with ingredients already at home, I can make something for dinner, instead of going out later for many ingredients to make something else.

Also, I re-use the plastic shopping bags as trash bags.    I haven't bought a plastic trash bag in years.

So, net, I don't use more plastic than someone who walks home with a box of Heftys in a cloth bag.

Answer 8

I do use cloth bags. The main problem that I think is that people usually do not want to carry bags to the store. They ae used to the store supplying plastic/paper bags. Should the stores stop supplying bags to customers, that would be a step in the right direction.

Answer 9

I sort of like my plastic bags because they save me from having to buy trash bags.  If you don't have big trash cans, they work *great*. . . and even come with nifty little handles to tie the bag up when they're full.  I've not actually bought bags to put in any of my indoor trash cans in 10 years, probably.

I do sometimes get paper bags from one of my local grocery stores that still asks you what you want.  I tend to need them to stick my paper recycling stuff in if I want it to get picked up every week when they come around -- my city's program wants the paper/cardboard in a paper or cardboard container if they're going to pick it up.

I'm really not sure what would make me switch to using cloth bags.  I have plenty of them lying around the house from meetings and that I've used to tote things around in the past, actually, so it's not like I'd even need to buy any.  It just doesn't seem worth it to me given the above yet?

Answer 10

I use cloth or biodegradable plastic bags all the time.  Usually cloth.

The advantages of the cloth bags are: longer-lasting, stonger fabric and decompose quicker if you ever do decide to throw them away.  The disadvantages are you have to carry them around and wash them occasionally if you carry groceries in them.  

For plastic bags the pros are: small size, so take up less room when you store them for later, you can get them right at the till and they are cheaper.  Disadvantages: more wasteful and hard on mother nature and you have to buy them more often (at the grocery store if they make you pay for them).

I would use them for shopping outside of the grocery store, but don't usually have to, because I carry a big shoulder bag to put all my purchases in instead.

Answer 11

i use cloth because im an environmental freak and they dont break as easily and dont crowed my pantry

Answer 12

Using a cloth bag is very environmentally friendly b/c the motto is "Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle". It reduces the use of plastic and you can reuse it over and over. Knowing the fact that your one less person using plastic and one more person helping the environment can be very reassuring.

The bad side to this is because you have to remember to carry it with you every time you go shopping.

Answer 13

Thats a really good question..Star for you :D

I just started using cloth shopping bags because you keep hearing about pollution and cloth is better, befor ei used paper . but really I dont know how muhc safer the plastic is from the paper and the cloth...I would like to know to :D

Answer 14

Shift is certainly the correct term. Recyclying is the ticket all around. Yes I do use them when I remember to take them into the store with me. I have 4. Two of them I got off HSN or QVC and they are really awesome heavy duty and hold 50 lbs nicely. They have clips that fit over the sides of the shopping cart, so you fill them as you shop, remove the items and the clerks refill them. You just lift um up and place them in the car. They fold down nicely too. Two gallons of milk fits in the bottom, with lots more small stuff on top. Two of those fit in the carts. I also have the smaller Store variety cloth type as well. They are great too, as they have a stable bottom again will hold 2 gallons of milk plus. I do not dislike the cloth bags at all.

Prompting me to use them more often would be a BIG NEON sign outside the Grocery Store reminding me to take them in with me. I never remember until I am checking out at the register and am asked what kinds of bags I want my groceries in....Last time I told the Checker they should put up a PA Speaker in the Parking lot reminding people to bring in the cloth grocery bags....Maybe I would remember then....In time I will remember....it is a change we all need to adhere to especially in Calif where soon we will have to by new laws enacted.

Answer 15

I get plastic and then use them for the kitchen trash can.  I haven't bought trash bags in years.

After reading Carrie's response I'll add that sometimes it is difficult to know the whole picture.  Growing cotton is an ecological nightmare.

This website promoting organic cotton outlines some of the problems with conventionally grown cotton:

http://www.ota.com/organic/environment/c...