If you enjoy my posts, please consider signing up below to get email notifications of my latest posts. I will not share your email.
Earlier this year I switched over to using re-usable bags when I go grocery shopping, clothes shopping, or anywhere else I might be buying something. I didn’t have a particular reason for not using cloth bags before. I had a whole cupboard full of them where they were taking up space, and I felt bad each time I brought home another plastic shopping bag. Neither of these things made me change my habits though. I think part of the reason I hadn’t switched was that I didn’t see a lot of other people using cloth bags and I wasn’t sure what would happen if I used them.
One day I was cleaning out my kitchen and almost decided to throw these reusable bags away because they were just taking up space. Instead, I threw them in my car. And I brought them with me the next time I went to the grocery store. When I was asked if I wanted paper or plastic, I didn’t really know what to do. “I brought my own…?” She smiled, took them from me, and bagged up my groceries with them. As I walked out to the car, I felt really proud. Silly, but I did feel good. The next time I went shopping, I was at Target, and while I was shopping, I realized I forgot the bags in my car. I didn’t want to walk all the way back to the parking lot, but I was so disappointed in myself when I needed to use another plastic bag. Since then, I haven’t forgotten too many times, and it’s been an easy habit to change.
As I don’t see many people using reusable bags yet, I wonder if others were like me and just don’t know how to use them. It’s incredibly easy, free, and you will feel amazing! You will no longer use plastic bags that can get into the ocean, where marine life can become entangled in them. You will no longer use plastic bags that can leach toxins into the soil. You will no longer put plastic bags into landfills that will last generations. Making the choice to use reusable bags is a big deal! You’re helping the planet! So how do you do it? 5 steps.
Our cat loves the reusable bags too. If you are buying these bags, get cloth ones that you can throw in the laundry.
1) Find all of the reusable bags that you have lying around the house. Check kitchen cupboards, coat closets, craft rooms, and the garage. If they are dirty, throw them in the laundry.
2) Move the bags to your car. Throw all of them in the trunk except for one. Put this one in the front passenger seat. This one bag won’t clutter your car, and it will remind you to bring the bags with you when you go into a store.
3) Guess at home many bags you will need when you get to the parking lot and grab one extra just in case. No harm if you don’t need it; you’ll just throw it in one of the other bags.
4) When you get into the store, put your bags into the cart or a basket. Shop as you normally would. If you pick out produce, put them directly into one of the reusable bags.
5) When you are ready to check out, if someone is bagging your items for you, let them know right away that you have your own bags to use and them over. If you are bagging your own items, move the bags over to the checkout side. If you are at Target, you’ll get 5 cents for each bag you use. If you have produce, take them out of the first bag, and move them into a second bag after you’ve weighed them so they don’t have to sit on the belt. If you have meat, put it in a cloth bag that you can wash when you get home.
That’s it. Simple. Remember after you’ve emptied your things at home to put the bags back in your car. I just leave them by the door and grab them when I leave in the morning.
No one at the stores has ever been upset that I’ve brought my own bags. It’s actually the opposite. Almost everyone smiles and appreciates that I gave just a little bit of effort to make a big difference. Try it, and see if using reusable bags makes you smile too.
While Ely, MN, may be best known for its entry location into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA), there are also two nearby state parks, an International Wolf Center, and one of Minnesota’s prettiest waterfalls. Bear Head Lake State Park offers canoe, kayak, and paddleboard rentals in addition to hiking trails, while Lake Vermilion-Soudan Underground Mine State Park offers tours of the state’s first and deepest iron mine. Tours include riding a cage down almost a half mile into the mine and then taking a train out to the last excavation site. For another option into BWCA closer to Lake Superior than Ely, enter near Tofte, along Sawbill Lake.