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Reusable Grocery Bags-Ecofriendly Shopping Bags!
Since the late 1990’s, some supermarkets have started todiscourage the uses of disposable plastic bags and have been offering thealternative reusable environmentally friendly shopping bags for a small fee. Inmost cases the non-woven polypropylene bags cost them around 25 cents and are beingsold for a dollar or two. Because of this the reusable shopping bags, made fromfabrics such as canvas or woven recycled synthetic fibers, are finally startingto take over for the nature endangering plastic bags. The reusable shoppingbags are becoming one of the popular new fashion trends to carry everythingfrom groceries, to fabrics, to small appliances and hardware. The clothing industryeven started promoting reusable shopping bags as sustainable fashion. Famousdesigners quickly jumped on board and are now offering their ‘original logos’ etc.on shopping bags. For example check out the UK designer Anya Hindmarch, whoprinted ‘I'm Not A Plastic Bag’ onto unbleached cotton bags then went on tosell them for 15-20 bucks.

Finally, very slowly yet encouragingly steady we as a societyworldwide are becoming aware of environmental concerns. ‘Going green’ or ‘being green’ is becoming alifestyle or fashion trend and bringing one's own shopping bag makes one apart of it all.
Unfortunately, a problem has come up with the reusable bag. Shoppers do not wash these shopping bagsnearly enough and are in danger of contaminating their groceries. Increased casesof food poisoning and such are being reported everywhere. Repeated exposure toraw meats and vegetable are increasing the risk of food born illnesses. Recentstudies found that high levels of bacteria, yeast and mold contaminating thesereusable shopping bags.
The good news is that if you follow some or all the suggestionsyou’re going to be fine using your reusable shopping bags for years.
- Always treat these grocery bags the same you doyour food prep surfaces. Use the samecleaners and hot water etc.
- Have different colored bags and only carry rawmeats, poultry or fish in the ones designated for that only. Raw vegetables andfruit should not be carried in these bags and neither should ready to eatfoods; such as non-sealed bread for example , French stick or baguettes.
- Canvas shopping bags, can be washed in thewashing machine and dried in the dryer. The non-woven polypropylene bags, canbe wiped out with hot water and antibacterial dish-soap or a biodegradable soap. Now I have to admit that I have washedthese poly-bags in the washer too in hot water but did not dry them in thedryer. (This will shorten their lives considerably and will fade the colors butI think it’s well worth to know that they’re nice and clean.) It’s important tomake sure that they stay open until totally dry as you do not want mold to growin between the seams.
- If you're handy with a sewing machine you can make your own reusable shopping bags. If you do then you can kind of 'color-code' them. The produce ones could be green, the ones for for fish blue, the ones for meat maybe red or pink or... just so that it becomes an obvious choice when you're packing up the groceries at the store. This way the ones you use for produce, meat and fish are the ones you have to take more attention to and if there was a leaky situation they're easy enough to throw into the washer.
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Comments
Great facts! Love this hub. THanks.
People here in Sweden are getting there. Shopping bags that are re-used is popular and nice too.
A lot of Californians I see make their own out of leftover fabric. It is one great way to make something out of your old project scraps for sure. Great hub!
Nice hub, Zsuzsy Bee! I'm also taking down notes from your How To Make An Eco-Friendly Shopping Bag with the pattern you've provided, so I can make my own bags. Thanks for the information, including tips on how to take care of these items.
Excellent! Love your safety tip to treat the bags with the same care for food preparation - very critical to prevent illness.
This is a nice hub I completely agree with promoting environmentally friendly packaging. I am in this industry myself and I think it is really important to promote only Biodegradable polythene products and paper packaging to help the environment.
I have tried those "green bags and find that they fail up to my standards of quality as they rip if you crry cans or if you want to carry them over your shoulder while riding a bicycle the handles are not long enough! I am happy with plastic bags as they can be reused for recycling and trash.
I would love a tea! I too have found that the Sobey's are the best. My first has outlasted my most recent PC ones. lol And, their size is perfect for bread. Again, thanks for the wonderful tips!
Washing out the bags is a very good point. I do designate certain bags for certain foods, but haven't thought of washing them. (maybe I just don't like doing laundry...) . I've wondered how they would fair in the washer, and to know that you can wash the nonwoven polypropylene bags is a bonus. Thanks Zsuzsy! (and now I have no excuse to wash them) :D
BTW, congrats on your beautiful "e"! :)
Great hub, thanks for highlighting how plastic is so destructive to our environment. Plastic bags are one of my biggest environmental peeves, especially when there are so many other options out there as you've pointed out.
Excellent hub! Great way to keep things sustainable. Love it :)
Dear Zsuzsy...
Great hub! I am going to have to translate your hub into Spanish and roll it around the net here(Venezuela)LOL. People are not well-educated regarding the "Going green" trend, at least not enough people to make a difference!
Thanks for sharing!
warm regards and blessings,
Al
Reusable shopping bags have been in use in Australia for 20+ years now but there are still too many plastic bags around. Some larger stores now refuse to give them out which is a start to better eco-friendly shopping. Never actually thought of washing them though!
I love the Eco-friendly shopping bags............ my biggest problem is remembering to put them back in my car! :-(
That's a good hub and very topical. My grocery store has them, you can buy one for a dollar, and use them over and over. It only makes sense.
I like my shopping bags better than the plastic. Walmart and the grocery store used to act like I was being a big pain when I used them...but now they are okay about it. I try to buy only organic so it doesn't look good if you use the plastic store bags.
Great hub, I hope the weather is getting a little better up your way. It has finally warmed up here.
You can pick these bags up, or I do, brand new for $1 or less at yardsales, I get so many I even give new ones with tags still on in with gifts!
You are right about slowly but anything is better than nothing! We have been asking for paper for years at the supermarkets (before we started bringing our own reusable bags) and the checkers look at us like we are speaking a foreign language. At least those are recyclable (and make wonderful packaging wraps for mailing gifts!) I have to always wear my rose-colored glasses though and believe we as a nation, as a world, can get it together and think more about everything - but especially right now the environment. Thanks for the hub - great point!
Great hub! I think stores should charge a dollar for plastic bags. That would motivate people fast and reduce waste in a hurry. I also like it when I see stores reminding people to bring bags to the produce section, where a lot of plastic bags are used. I see people bagging things that don't need to be bagged, like bananas, oranges, apples, onions and the like.
Good point about keeping your reusable bags clean. Thanks for bringing that up.
Yes. The world is going green. When we consider all of the waste and pollution, its about time. We really waste money when we don't reuse. Nice hub. Keep up the great work.
What great information! I never thought about these bags becoming contaminated, possibly because I so often fail to remember to use them.
I'm glad to know you can put the non-woven polypropylene bags in the washer.
I like your system of keeping them in the car, especially the part about not making a place for them in the house. I identify completely with your strategy...I can put up with things out of place for only a limited time. My bags would eventually find themselves being kicked back into the car where they belong. Thanks for the tips!
Actually I use pretty often reusable bags, around 90% of the times, but I've never thought about health risks. Well, my immune system is pretty good, nevertheless these are really important informations. Well Zsuzsy Bee, sorry but now I have to wash a couple of things. :) And I'll stumble this hub. :)
Nice Hub! I don't think most people think about washing these bags unless they are visibly dirty. I know I hadn't given it much thought, as I usually forget mine and end up bringing home plastic bags. I do have a use for them though...I just need to make the time to use them.
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