Works For Me Wednesday

Our family has been using reusable shopping bags since last November and I can't tell you how much we love them!

I have purchased several from Publix, Wal-mart and a new one yesterday from Winn-Dixie. What I love most about them, beyond the reusable aspect, is that each bags holds as many groceries as 3 plastic bags. That means less trips to and from the car and with the long shoulder straps I can sometimes get all my groceries in one trip!

We also use them for sleepover bags, book bags and Justin keeps his karate gear in one.

When we first began using them the biggest problem was remembering to take them to the store with us. To remedy this I would put all the bags into one and then keep them in my car. There were them several times I'd send one of the boys to the car while I was in the checkout line to get our bags. Now it's pretty much habit. We keep the bags on hooks in the entryway and grab them as we head out to shop!

Beyond carrying and using these bags I've also requested to NOT have a bag for small things that would fit into my purse or even no bag for a few things I can easily carry.

Before I go here are some plastic bag statistics:
Up to 1000 - Estimated years for a plastic bag to decompose.
1460 - Plastic bags used in a year by an average family of four in the U.S.
12 million - Barrels of oil used to make the plastic bags that the U.S. consumes annually.
Less than 1% - Percentage of all plastic bags that get recycled in the U.S.
88.5 billion – Plastic bags consumed in the U.S. last year.
500 billion – Estimated plastic bags sold worldwide each year.
San Francisco has banned non-biodegradable plastic bags in large grocery stores.


Works for me!
~Michelle

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