How many of you would buy a cotton tote to carry your store bought items? What would you pay for a bag?

Answer 1

.....I have a couple, you can buy ones off Charity's or at the store, they are normally pretty cheap, and they help the environment.....Say no to plastics....

Answer 2

I have a large canvas bag that I use. I actually rescued it from a trash can. Also, we've started to reuse the good, sturdy paper bags with handles that we get from Trader Joe's and a gourmet grocery store here in town.

I had been aware of the horrors of plastic bags for quite some time. Not only were they not sturdy for walking home from the grocery store, but I would see stray bags litter the creekbed and creek that was by the grocery. Very disgusting.

Then, I read the March issue of "Body and Soul" magazine: "The 100 billion platic bags that Americans use every year require more than 21,000 barrels of oil daily to produce. [I did the calculation: 7,665,000 a year. ] Plastic recycling is expansive and energy intensive, so keep a stach of cloth or once used grocery bags on hand to carry purchases." (I read the quote to my husband and he's been on board with reusing bags and taking the paper to the grocery store, too.)

I was aware that oil was used in making plastic, even the bags, but not the amount. That's sick. People complain about the gas prices (I'm not too crazy about them, either), but I'm betting that most don't realize what else is made from gas that they don't direclty pay for.

While I see the use in plastic bags, I don't feel as though i should be assaulted with them every time I go to the grocery store. I like Aldi because they do charge for bags. I don't buy them, as I have my own or find a box (which I recycle), but the concept is great.

Answer 3

I have a few cotton totes. The environment is damaged enough without me contributing a bunch of plastic bags to it. If you need to use the store bags, use the paper ones because those are biodegradable and break down over time. I would pay the same as I pay at Aldi's, about 10-15 cents per bag.

Answer 4

I recently went to Ecobags.com and bought some organic string market bags and a hemp bag for shopping. I paid more than I should. I think they were about $6-8. You can get cloth bags just about anywhere though for pretty cheap (garage sales, charity stores) or from other people giving them away.

To answer your question: I would (and have) purchase a cloth tote (made from organic materials) - as well as string market bags - which stretch to fit quite a bit. And I would pay $6-8 a piece for the organic bags.

Hope that you look into it!

Answer 5

I bought some a while back, thinking they would be a great idea, but they are often not very accomodating of all that gets bought. I use the plastic bags as a liner in my shreader. I think a better way would be to have a deposit at the store of say $5, you know, those stores that have those "club card discount games", and use insulated plastic sturdy totes that I can toss all the household recyclebles and send them back to the store to get them all reused.
for example, the empty bleach bottles could be sent back to the bleach maker and refilled, over and over,
the empty cans for soups and beans could be recycled too, and not just the aluminum,

and we could get rid of those taxes that are called redemtion values, which are not anything but a new way to say "Tax" without the T word.

Answer 6

First of all, I shop for a family of four, and would rather not go every day, so my shopping trips usually require anywhere from 5 to 10 bags. Secondly, I use the plastic store bags to pick up after my dog, when I take him for a walk (every day), and I would rather not buy poo-specific bags, when I can get them free from the grocery store. So, I won't be buying shopping bags any time soon.

Answer 7

I would have to shop more often so that I wouldn't have as many bags, but I would purchase a cotton tote and would pay upwards of about $14.00 a bag.

Answer 8

I don't have a cotton tote, I just re-use my current grocery bags. I'm cheap and I'm lazy. Unless I get a cotton tote free, it's not going to happen.

Answer 9

I wouldn't because I buy to much at one time. But I think a good suggestion is......that neighborhood stores lease a cart to people so they can walk to shop......and push it home.
They rent trash cans here......there doesn't seem to be a big problem with that.....I might have some off the noggin thought of being a potential bag woman.......perhaps but I think its a great idea, now that there are huge stores on almost every corner. Then we could get your cotton bags to keep our cart lock in........lol kidding about that part!

Answer 10

Not me. If I use a cotton bag to bring items home, where do I get bags to take garbage out? Do I put the garbage in those nice cotton bags?

There should have been no talk about it at all. Mayor Newsom in San Francisco tried to foist this off on the Public before his rummy brain cleared up enough to see the folly of his idea.

The simplest way to remedy the problem is for stores to use
Biodegradable Plastic Bags. We won't hear any more about it.

Answer 11

Do it all the time - many of my tote bags have been free from events or stores. But i would also buy them if necessary.

I'm using lots less plastic bags, although occasionally am caught without my totes with me.