Cloth grocery bags - which ones are the best? How many do you have?

[jeepgirl]

DH and I want to switch over to cloth grocery bags. Which ones do you think are the best? How many seem to be enough for a weeks worth of groceries?

[AmandaLeigh]

I just bought the ones they were selling at my local grocery store since they were only $0.99, and because the store gave a $0.05 per bag each time you used them. I bought 4 bags, and typically use about 2-3 on a weekly shopping trip for DH and myself. They really can hold much more than the flimsy plastic bags. Even though they were very cheap, they seem to be holding up well. I've been using them for almost 2 years.

[jeepgirl]

Amanda - which grocery store do you go to?

[Sevilla]

I love the .99 ones from Meijer and other grocery stores. The Meijer ones have a hard (removable) bottom and a few pockets which is great, but are light and fold down super small. I have 6 or 7 reusable bags - I usually only use ~4 (but sometimes more if it's been awhile).

I got one of Walmart's reusable bags (black and basic) for .99 to use when I go places like Target or the mall - I've been using reusable bags on all my purchases lately and been really happy with how it's worked out.

[SweetRed]

I bought the $1.99 ones at my grocery store instead of the $0.99 ones because they are insulated and they zip shut at the top. I can fit a ton in each bag, and they won't spill over in my trunk with the zip top.

I only have two, which is enough for our weekly trip to the grocery store plus a bi-weekly run to Trader Joe's.

[Adaya]

I have a few from each store where I shop like Trader Joe's, Publix and I just got one from Target the other day. I don't have a favorite as they all work pretty well, but the Trader Joe's back is pretty tall and deep.

For a week's worth of groceries for 2 ppl, I use about 3 or 4. Those bags really hold a lot of stuff and they are easy to carry. I like them better than the plastic bags. Every now and then I'll get the plastic bags b/c I use them to line the trash cans in my bathrooms and I take them on trips to hold dirty clothes.

FYI, if you go live near a Kroger (www.kroger.com) and have a shopper's card, go to their website and design a reusable back and you'll get a free one.

[Cocotte]

I haven't seen any to buy in the grocery stores I shop at, but I haven't really looked for them either. I was planning on just making some, but if they're only 99cents I may just buy some (if I see any).

[ellidew]

I bought the $1 ones from target that fold up and zip into a wallet sized shape. I probably use 3-4 per week for groceries.

[yby1]

I bought some bags from Whole Foods well over a year ago. They are $1.99 each and made by GreenBag (http://www.greenbag.info/) and I use them for everything. They hold up really well.

I also have two from Trader Joe's - 1 made out of recycled plastic and 1 insulated bag. They are great bags as well, but I like the green bag ones better. :)

I also have a couple of Chicobags (http://www.reusablebags.com/store/chicobag-colorful-compact-reusable-shopping-p-450.html?osCsid=1ba6602699dd130618f5a400e5a153ab) that I leave in my purse and car for spur of the moment trips. I don't like this as much as the other bags for large grocery trips because they are harder to fill. It's good if you only have a couple of items though.

All in all, I think that 4 grocery bags would work for a weeks worth of grocery shopping. We always take a couple of extra in case we need to buy larger items like toilet paper, laundry detergent... things like that.

I believe we are in possession of 10 bags all together.

[gardenmommy]

I love the .99 ones from Meijer and other grocery stores. The Meijer ones have a hard (removable) bottom and a few pockets which is great, but are light and fold down super small.

Mine are like those as well and I use usually no more than 3 a week for a family of 4 (2 kidlets)

[Happy1]

So where can I buy them from if we don't have any of those stores near us? None of our grocery stores sell the cloth bags yet. Well, one does but the bags are so small that I would need to buy 10 of them and they aren't selling them cheap.

Nikki :D

[jennylou]

Am I the only one who doesn't buy my bags? LOL, I just collect them from various locations. My favorite are the huge ones the hospital gives out to L&D patients. I have two already and a cousin gave me two more. They have the removable hard bottom. It is about a foot wide by two feet long, I'd say (I don't have one right in front of me right now to measure).

[SiValleySteph]

I have a lot of different bags, but my favorite right now are very similar to these:

ACME Bags™ - Workhorse Style 1500 (http://http://www.reusablebags.com/store/acme-bags™-workhorse-style-1500-p-1.html)

They are nylon and mine fold up into a little pocket with a clip, so I keep them either in my purse or clipped to my diaper bag. This way I always have a bag for random stops at Target, the mall, etc. and avoid bags all together. I got 2 at Safeway at 2/$5. I'm thinking of getting 2 more to have stashed various places. I LOVE them. They are shaped like plastic grocery sacks, only bigger, and hold a ton.

[kemorr]

I have a selection of bags. I have a few from the grocery chain Albertsons which are a kind of canvas material with a firm, removable bottom. They're sturdy, but small. Don't know how much they cost as MIL gave them to me. I have a large bag that Whole Foods handed out free a few months ago that is made from 99% recycled plastic. It is pretty good - fits a lot. Then I have two large canvas bags that my local high-school was selling door to door as a fundraiser. These were $5 each (!!) but are the largest and sturdiest that I own. Finally, I have one from Trader joes that is shaped kind of like a tote. It is OK.

For a week's worth of groceries, I usually take 6 bags. I usually shop at Whole Foods and they give you 10c back for every bag they use. They pack a LOT into each bag (to limit the refund, I guess!) and I usually only use 4 - the 4 largest. Occasionally I feel like asking them to only refund me for 4 bags but to use all 6 bags, as they just get too heavy if stacked too full and I worry about stuff getting squished.

[kdotp]

I have three of the large Target ones that fold up into about a 6x6 square. I can get basically all our groceries for the week (2 adults/1 toddler) in two or three bags (depending on how full the checker fills them).

Our local grocery store sells their own bags, but the last few times I've gone in (usually just to get a few items), I've just brought an old tote bag I had in the closet.

[betsyboop]

I just bought the ones they were selling at my local grocery store since they were only $0.99, and because the store gave a $0.05 per bag each time you used them.

Same here. Ours are some kind of flimsy cloth with big handles and a hard plastic bottom. They hold a lot more than a regular paper bag, which is nice. I have 2 of them and usually end up with 1 or 2 paper bags on top of that. I use the paper bags in my kitchen trash can.

[Renrel]

I just decided to start switching to cloth bags. I am buying a selection and seeing which I like best. I have two from Trader Joes, both .99 I think and one insullated bag from Shaws that was probable $2. I also made a $20 donation to Feed through Whole Foods and got a really nice canvas shopping bag. It folds down and zips closed into a package about 6 inches by 4 inches and has three pockets along the inner walls and there are copper grommets reinforcing hte handles. I used it for the first time to day and it seemed to work well. It was there in my knapsack while I was at work (since it folds down small enough to carry around which was my motivation for making the purchase/donation), it fit in 6 apples, two beets, three sweet potatoes, three packages of sponges, a dish scrubber, a ice cube tray, a box of work gloves, four jars of baby food, a tray of sushi and a 16 oz bottle of water with out any problem. I think the other cheaper ones I bought will hold more and work well for weekly food shopping and that this one will be great for keeping with me for unexpected runs to the store. We will see.

[meganth]

So where can I buy them from if we don't have any of those stores near us? None of our grocery stores sell the cloth bags yet. Well, one does but the bags are so small that I would need to buy 10 of them and they aren't selling them cheap.

Nikki :D

I bought mine at Ace Hardware because in my area they were the first ones carrying them.

[Ohana]

I got mine at the local Fred Meyer. They were having a promotion where they gave you 3 free if you spent $75 in a single trip. I had to buy 2 others for 99 cents each as well. The great thing is that they give me 5 cents every time I use mine, plus if they ever wear out, the store will replace them for free.

[salysaturn]

We bought them at our local food store as well. 4 from Giant and 4 from Martins. We also have 2 from Target. We have half in each car, that way we will always be ready. I agree though, you fit so much more in these bags.

[salysaturn]

HAPPY1- Buy them at Target. All Target's are required to sell them.

[gardenmommy]

plus if they ever wear out, the store will replace them for free.

I got mine at Freds too and I didn't know that! Nice!

[Happy1]

HAPPY1- Buy them at Target. All Target's are required to sell them.

The nearest target to us is an hour away and we don't go that way very often. Maybe they sell them online?

Nikki :D

[polarama]

I have a lot, because I use them not just for shopping, but for dry cleaning, bringing home extra work, gym clothes, etc. I basically carry an extra bag in my purse/work bag/luggage/gym bag all the time.

Here's what I have:

1 Whole Foods bag (it's not the insulated one or the one with the colorful apple on it, it's the kind that has a graphic of one food product, like grapes, or oysters on it. I don't know how to describe the material. Not really canvas/cloth, but not really plastic?)
3 cloth/canvas bags from TJs, Fresh Fields, and from my CSA.
4 Envirosax (http://www.delight.com/Envirosax-Delightfully-Hip-Reusable-Grocery-Bags)
5 Flip and Tumble (http://www.flipandtumble.com) bags--disclaimer--one of my best friends from college designed these. These bags are really not grocery bags, though, I use them as my "2nd" bag a lot.

My favorite for groceries is the Whole Foods bag and the Fresh Fields cloth bag because they "stand" similar to brown paper bags and you can really pack a lot into them. The TJ cloth bag is a little bit smaller, even though it's wider so it's great for more awkward items. I like my Envirosax bags because again, they pack a lot, but they don't have a base, so it's a bit harder to bag groceries.

[skyblu]

We have 6 bags: 4 from Whole Foods ($0.99 each) and 2 insulated ones from Stop and Shop ($1.99 each).

DH has 3 in his car (2 regular and 1 insulated) and I have 3 in mine. Since we always must use one or the other car to go shopping anywhere, the bags are always at hand.

The 3 bags are pretty roomy, enough for my weekly supermarket run, although I don't buy my produce there (I get it elsewhere).

Polarama, the Flip and Tumble bags look great, I will order one to keep in my purse!

[jmvan74]

I just bought the ones they were selling at my local grocery store since they were only $0.99, and because the store gave a $0.05 per bag each time you used them.

Same here. I have 5, but usually only need 3-4.

[Hello Kitty]

Am I the only one who doesn't buy my bags?
No. And IMO, unless you're buying the super cool tiny foldable ones, you can find canvas bags as promo items, or buy them at a thrift store for cheap. You're reusing something that's already out there, which reduces resource consumption and transportation costs. Sorry, end rant. ;)

My favorite bag is from the thrift store and it's this one (http://www.rbag.com/1725.htm) - I love the shape and all the pockets. I have some other ones that are more canvas rectangles, but I don't like them as much. I think bags that have a real bottom and are shaped more like a paper bag are better.

[laura]

I bought some bags from Whole Foods well over a year ago. They are $1.99 each and made by GreenBag (http://www.greenbag.info/) and I use them for everything. They hold up really well.

I also have two from Trader Joe's - 1 made out of recycled plastic and 1 insulated bag. They are great bags as well, but I like the green bag ones better. :)

I also have a couple of Chicobags (http://www.reusablebags.com/store/chicobag-colorful-compact-reusable-shopping-p-450.html?osCsid=1ba6602699dd130618f5a400e5a153ab) that I leave in my purse and car for spur of the moment trips. I don't like this as much as the other bags for large grocery trips because they are harder to fill. It's good if you only have a couple of items though.

All in all, I think that 4 grocery bags would work for a weeks worth of grocery shopping. We always take a couple of extra in case we need to buy larger items like toilet paper, laundry detergent... things like that.

I believe we are in possession of 10 bags all together.

We have Trader Joe's bags (the recycled plastic ones - 4 of them) but I really like the Whole Foods ones. When/if we decide to get more bags, I'll get a couple from WF. We also use Chico Bags; I think/thought we had 3 of them but I think my husband might have lost one. We have 2 that we use to take lunches to work each day, and I also like them for the Farmer's Market b/c I can toss them in my purse so I don't have to carry them if I don't need them.

[bethnjim]

I love Trader Joe's canvas bags. I have 6 of them and use them for everything now!!

[jeepgirl]

I'm sooooooo jealous of those of you who have a Trader Joe's or Whole Foods nearby! I use to live in the northwest and had both nearby... and now I have neither. :(

[kedzieb]

I got 3 nice canvas shopping bags from Marc Jacobs last time I went shopping there. I told the guy I really liked their bags when he was wrapping my shirt, so he asked me if I was planning to use it for groceries. I said yes & he threw in 2 more. Score!

Before that I've used Trader Joes and Stop & Shop bags. Both good. We only shop at big grocery stores about once a month and need about 4 per trip for 2 people. Otherwise I use the MJ bags for everyday marketing and errands.

[FallingforPhil]

We have 2 recycled plastic and 1 insulated from Trader Joe's, and 4 from Meijer. I think they were all .99, except the insulated bag, which was $2.99.

I've started taking one into stores like Target, etc. as well, but DH gets all bent out of shape when I take a Meijer bag into a store that is not Meijer, so I may have to puchase a Target one to appease him. :rolleyes:

[ivansbabe]

I need to get me some. Seems like a lot of people prefer the Whole Foods and Trader Joe's bags. We have a store here called PCC Natural Markets (http://www.pccnaturalmarkets.com/) and they have some too that are $.99, and if they're okay I'll get those since I LOVE PCC and it doesn't hurt to promote them :)

eta: the bags are either $.73 for a polypropylene bag or $4.61 for a cotton canvas tote

Though one of my good friends wants to go into business making reusable bags and is hoping to sell them for $30 - $40. I've neglected to tell her I think the price is too much but who am I to give such advise right?

[Belm]

I've used the ones that ones that I have gotten at trade shows/conferences. I thnk I have about 10.

[TracieB]

Happy1 - I bought mine at www.reusablebags.com. HUGE selection and lots of great deals. I have this (http://www.reusablebags.com/store/acme-bags%E2%84%A2-workhorse-style-1500-p-1.html?osCsid=5f58c482336c9c2e5ef41a9214b1dd5c) kind and LOVE them. We bought eight or nine, but only take five or six to the grocery with us, depending on how big our list is.

[myshel]

I have a variety of bags-- all from Hy-Vee (a local chain grocery) or Target. Sometimes I use the big canvas one we got from Disney or the Pottery Barn diaper bag we have.

Just last night, I bought one of the $1.00 ones from the grocery because I didn't have any with me. It seemed small, but I was able to fit a half gallon of milk, a large container of cottage cheese, three ziploc bags from the deli, four veggies, one bag of buns, two bags of chips, a large container of mustard, and a few other small items in the bag. Pretty impressive, I'd say.

[lightview]

We have a couple of bags we bought at the supermarket for lighter stuff and a couple of sturdier bags from www.reusablebags.com. We also got some mesh produce bags to use for the fruits and veggies from reusablebags too.

Now, if we could get this the paper delivery people to stop putting our newpaper in a plastic bag, we would be rid of almost of all our plastic bags (go back to the newpaper "mailbox" I used to see growing up).

[heather1029]

I have six or seven of the Whole Foods bags, and I don't need near that many!! Seems like every time I go to Whole Foods, they're handing out their new seasonal bag for free. So, I think I bought two of them a long time ago, and then accumulated the rest from their hand-outs. They're good bags! I wash them and they hold up pretty well.

[Kimberland30]

I just saw some canvas type bags at our local grocery store yesterday for $1.99 each and will probably pick some up this weekend. They are a little bigger than the paper bags that they use, and have extra long handles so they should be easy to carry.

I doubt DH will use them, but I'll put them in another bag near the door with the store ad and my coupons and maybe he'll get into the hang of it. I'll also put a couple in his truck since he sometimes stops by the store on his way home from work.

[jbemommy]

I got 5 Green Bags at our local grocery store for 89 cents each. They are great, and so far, I've been able to fit a whole cart of groceries into 4 or 5 of them. The really nice part is I get 5 cents back per bag per shopping trip!

[jeepgirl]

DH and I drove into "the big city" about an hour away over the weekend for a graduation. We passed a whole foods, stopped, and got 2 of their really large cloth bags, at the cost of 3.50 a piece. They hold a lot. I wanted to get their slightly smaller (and cheaper) green ones in addition, but the guy said they were out. On our way out of the store I saw a few, I think... do they zip up into small pouches? I would like to get some of those the next time we're in that neck of the woods again.

I just don't like the bags that our local grocery store carries. The ones we got I like much better.

It felt good... not to be adding to the "pile" of plastic bags we already have at home!

[nuhmah]

I have 5 bags - two are from Market Basket (I love how they fold and snap shut, with long shoulder handles), and the others are just canvas bags. I use a vinyl bag from Old Navy for things like ice cream, and a bag with a lining that I can just wipe down for produce. I also have my shopping cart from when I lived in France, but I don't use that as often. I save that for Farmer's Markets.

[Lizard]

I got a 3-pack of bags from Costco for $3... they are HUGE and work best for big shopping trips, but I like them. :) I also have some various smaller bags that I've gotten for free, I use those on occasion.

[Wrighty26]

I bought 5-6 bags from Publix a while ago - they are huge though and I only end up using 3-4 when I go. I love that I don't need to make 9 trips to and from my garage (while my 22 month old is trying to escape). I'm so glad I made the switch because those plastic bags are such a waste!

I didn't know that Target has bags. I have never seen them and I visit Target at least once a week!

[gardenmommy]

I didn't know that Target has bags. I have never seen them and I visit Target at least once a week!

I didn't either but last time I was there they had a whole end cap of them near the purses...kind of a weird spot for them but they had a ton of different ones.

[looch]

It's just DH and I at home so our shopping is kind of small. We have three bags that I got at a crafts store, they hold everything, including our big weekly purchase. If we need more, I plan to make them out of some canvas duvets I got at IKEA.

[wideopenskies]

I have at least a dozen bags from the Canadian chain Superstore that are made of recycled plastic bottles. I like them because they have long handles so you can wear them like a purse if you want. We use them for everything - lunches, shopping, etc. We have so many, even though we only use 4-6 even on big shopping trips, because I always forget some in the house - at least then there are always some in the car. I love Superstore, because they have long discouraged the use of plastic bags. Even when I was in high school and no one had cloth bags, they charged you for plastic bags and encouraged you to use plastic reusable crates instead.

I also have a Chico bag that I love that I keep in my purse for non-grocery related shopping.

[salysaturn]

Our Target has them by the registers.

[KiKi'sMommy]

Happy - Go to your local thrift store and look for bags. I kick myself now because I gave away all of those random bags I either got for free from various places or that people brought back from tourist spots. I bet you can find all sorts of different bags at a second hand store. They don't have to be made specifically for shopping. Like someone else said, this would also be a great way to recycle!