Since I’ve been crunchy for longer than it was officially cool to be crunchy, I was super excited about the Dallas city bag ban, because it means less waste and less danger to the wildlife. We lived next to White Rock Lake in Dallas for many years, and it always made me sad to see the hundreds of thin white bags lining the shore and being eaten by wildlife who later died. Bag litter is so ubiquitous that They Might Be Giants even wrote a whimsical song about a plastic bag floating along a walkway and attaching itself to the legs of passerby.
Anyway, things haven’t been so celebratory for a lot of folks in the area. The first time I visited Target after the bag ban took effect, the cashier was so defensive about it that she was actually rude when she gave me my free reusable bag (TIP: Target was giving out free reusable bags, at least the first few days!). It was like she fully expected me to throw a fit. I think she might have gotten that response a few times already, which totally explains her surliness.
I know that I spent a few years at first trying to remember to bring my own bags, and there’s nothing more annoying than PAYING for something that you know you already own, but forgot to bring. I made the following video to show you my best tips on how to remember reusable bags at the grocery store. (If you can’t see the embedded video, click here)
To recap what’s in the video:
The door of your car.
Behind the seat of your car.
Tiny, tiny bags. – here’s an affiliate link to the bags I mentioned that fold up into themselves.
Bags that fit in other bags. – another affiliate link to the 5-pack of bags I mentioned.
You don’t use as many. – you can pack a reusable bag completely full and it won’t break.
TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL: produce bags. – affiliate link to mesh produce bags. Or reuse the produce bags that you already have.
I’ll try to have a video next week reviewing the different types of reusable bags. Let me know if you have questions in the comments!
Dallas now has a reusable bag only policy while. Here’s some tips on how to remember the change: http://t.co/PdhLgtufAR
Dallas City #Plastic Bag Ban: How to remember reusable bags at the store via @_conscientious http://t.co/5anYj4P9rN
Great advice! I also store my reusable bags in a basket in my trunk. The trick is to remember to put them by the garage door after emptying them. And also I keep one of those little Chico bags in my purse.
I’ve been using reusable bags for several years and I LOVE them. For some reason, baggers at the store appear to know how to actually fill up a reusable bags up to the top with a bunch of food/products, whereas with the plastic bags, they typically will only put 1-2 items in each bag. I hope the Ft. Worth area takes on the plastic bag ban, too.
I do use the plastic bags for trash in our cars or to pick up dog poo, so I don’t know what I’d use instead of them. Ideas?
Well, there are always the plastic bags that are used in the produce section of the store! I do NOT always remember my produce bags – possibly only about 50% of the time – so I always seem to have those hanging around. I do try to reuse them. You can also buy a huge package of paper lunch bags in the paper goods part of the store (usually 100-150 for $2), those work well for dog cleanup and are biodegradable!