Posted by: Jennifer | July 1, 2008

A reader has a question

Recycla received an interesting email from reader Jeanette the other day:

I want to know if you experience the same frustration as me when using my own sacks at the grocery store. I have five Chico Bags from Greenfeet.com. I bring them with me when I shop. At the mall it is no big deal. At the grocery store they act like I am really putting them out for using them. I go to the same checker, if he is there, because he seems to deal with them the best. The other day the manager was checking and she looked at me like I was crazy. I really thought she had not encountered anyone using their own bags before. Am I really the only one carrying around bags?

The one checker that I usually go to slips my bags on the little wire thing in front if him and just sacks as he rings up stuff. The sacks don’t fit the wire thing all that great. That makes me think there might be a better sack out there that the checkers would find easier to use. I live in Fort Worth and the town just to the east of us is Arlington. Arlington is going to ban all plastic grocery sacks starting at the beginning of the year. I thought that was very forward thinking of them. Why then is Fort Worth so different?

Just wanted to know what others are doing.

Recycla emailed back to let Jeanette that she doesn’t usually have problems when she uses her cloth bags. That said, it occurred to Recycla later that a couple of years ago she did have semi-regular problems with grocery store baggers who were resistant to change, but that hasn’t happened in a while. In fact, she recently went to Walmart for the first time in months and, when she handed the cashier a cloth bag for her purchases, the store employee didn’t even hesitate. Now THAT is progress.

Recycla is curious about other Eco Warriors’ experiences. Are you using cloth bags (the answer should be YES) and, if so, have you had any problems?

For a round up of great places to buy cloth shopping bags, click here.

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Responses

Initially I had raised eyebrows and concern when presenting my bags to the checker, but no more! I like to think I’ve trained them, but attitudes certainly changed when the store began selling it’s own reusable bags–glad to say they sold out the first shipment and now have more! I see lots of shoppers using them. So you might suggest to your store manager to start selling the bags and then the store will be “invested” in them. The company the Piggly Wiggly uses is http://www.bringyourownbag.com and they sell for 99 cents a bag and the store still offers a 5 cent rebate each time you use your own.

By: green girl on July 1, 2008
at 9:06 am

I think the UK is well ahead on this, there are many shops that won’t even give you a bag unless you pay for it (I can think of M&S Food, Aldi, Lidl, Netto, WH Smith off the top of my head) and the big supermarkets positively encourage you to bring your own bags by giving you a bonus point on your loyalty card for each reused bag.

Incidentally, I use a combination of cloth and plastic Bag for Lifes.

By: The Guider on July 1, 2008
at 9:25 am

My two biggest problems so far have been (1) remembering to take the bags INTO the store and (2) having all my bags given away to another customer by a bagger while I was at the customer service desk at Kroger. Apparently the other shopper saw nothing unusual in being given SOMEONE ELSE’S BAGS. Sigh.

At any store other than a grocery, I generally have to point out to the cashier that I have my own bags. I think they just go into automatic plastic bag mode and don’t even see the huge brightly colored cloth bags in front of them.

By: Elizabeth on July 1, 2008
at 9:28 am

Forgot to say, we don’t generally have baggers in the UK so that aspect is removed. We pack our own groceries.

By: The Guider on July 1, 2008
at 1:55 pm

I actually have pretty good responses to my bags. I first started using canvas tote bags until I discovered the clever square ones that almost stand up on their own. They sell them at all the grocery stores and even the big box stores now. The square ones are definitely preferred to the tote ones, which were a pain in the ass (I just use them for thrift store shopping now, or packing my kids’ stuff in it).

Because they are more time consuming to fill, I usually help bag my groceries. I figure if I can help being green be less a pain in the ass to people, they will be less resistant to change.

By: Amy Y on July 1, 2008
at 5:47 pm

After I wrote about this, I went to one of our local grocery stores; not one that I usually go to, but definitely one of our most expensive chains. I had my bags with me (duh) and the bagger actually sighed when I asked him to use my bags. It was not a happy sigh, that’s for sure.

By: Jennifer on July 1, 2008
at 6:07 pm

I moved to Raleigh, NC from Washington DC last September and found that the cashiers/baggers at most stores - with the exception of Whole Foods and Earth Fare - give me the same look. I have learned that is easier for me and my produce to bag the groceries myself. Hopefully one day soon everywhere will be more accepting to the reusable canvas bags…

By: Ashley on July 2, 2008
at 1:00 pm

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