Tip of the Week

Our planet is being smothered with plastic. Wildlife on land and sea are getting lethally tangled in plastic bags and dying from ingesting other plastic debris. I find that I can rinse out and hang plastic bags over tall bottes to dry, and re-use them 75+ times. The only trick is to remember to take my big cloth shopping bags filled with empty plastic bags with me into the grocery store. The green bag pictured on the Green Gruide site looks like a bag I've seen that is made from ground up soda bottles. I question whether in the end that bag will be recyclable. Better, I think, is to use a bag made of cotton, hemp, or other natural fiber that can completely biodegrade when it is too worn to be used. I have used and re-used large cotton shopping bags for 21 years, and they are still good. (As I mentioned, my plastic produce bags are still going strong after 75 uses.) When plastic bags can't be re-used anymore, I drop them in the recycling bins in front of grocery stores.

Our planet is being smothered with plastic. Wildlife on land and sea are getting lethally tangled in plastic bags and dying from ingesting other plastic debris. I find that I can rinse out and hang plastic bags over tall bottes to dry, and re-use them 75+ times. The only trick is to remember to take my big cloth shopping bags filled with empty plastic bags with me into the grocery store. The green bag pictured on the Green Gruide site looks like a bag I've seen that is made from ground up soda bottles. I question whether in the end that bag will be recyclable. Better, I think, is to use a bag made of cotton, hemp, or other natural fiber that can completely biodegrade when it is too worn to be used. I have used and re-used large cotton shopping bags for 21 years, and they are still good. (As I mentioned, my plastic produce bags are still going strong after 75 uses.) When plastic bags can't be re-used anymore, I drop them in the recycling bins in front of grocery stores.

My reusable shopping bag is made of recycled grocery bags. I've been using it for a couple of years. It's strong enough to fill with canned goods, or cram full of books at the library used-book sale, and is showing no sign of wear yet. The source is www.greatexpressions.biz, which is where I get my soy candles and glycerin soap.

A plastic box that fits neatly inside the standard grocery cart--I use a big blue Megablocks (i.e. Legos) box--may well work better than a reusable bag. You put all your items in the box while strolling through the store. Then, when checking out, you lift the box up onto the conveyer belt. This way, you avoid having to empty your cart by hand: The clerk simply takes the stuff out of the box and scans them. You tell the bagger not to bother with bagging the loose items but to put them back in the box--now returned again to the grocery cart--after they've been scanned.

This works very well for most shopping trips and seems to be fast and efficient, as long as what you're getting isn't too much to fit in the box (or too heavy).

As for myself, there are some great reusable wine bags from the clever folks at winebags.com. They have a NEO tufftote carrier that can be used exclusively for wine bottles or any other breakable 1 liter bottle and it has a 1 year guarantee, so I'd say that's pretty reusable. I do not condone or condemn paper or plastic for not being eco friendly, as much as the one-time throw it away mentality. I really think ANY bag from your home will do for quick trip to the market. But, when it comes to my wine, it's nice to be able to throw my wine bag on the backset of my car, knowing it won't be rolling around. Here's their web site for more details on their reusable wine bags: http://www.winebags.com or email them at wines@winebags.com.