Earth Friendly Food Shopping with Canvas Bags

With the emphasis on being environmentally aware I've changed my shopping habits. I've switched to canvas like replacements to hold my groceries. I think plastic bags could be a thing of the past. I first purchased these canvas bags at Trader's Joe's in New Jersey early last year. They were $.99 and came in a Hawaiian print. Trader Joe's had packed one full of goodies as a donation to a fundraiser I was doing for the National Foundation for Animal Rescue. I thought these would be great to use to give gifts in .

The recipient would get a gift within a gift. Then I decided to get a few for myself. I hate the little plastic bags the grocery chains offered and I disliked the paper bags. They always tore. Then there was the environmental aspect to consider. I could reuse my terrific Hawaiian bags. They were roomy, had handles and did not have to be recycled or tossed in the garbage to end up in a dump.

When I got to Florida in the winter I found out that Publix now offered green, beige or black reusable canvas like bags for $.99. I gave these to my entire family as stocking stuffers this past Christmas. Publix even have a version that is divided into four sections and is a wine bottle carrier. My husband got one for Christmas. If you buy four bottles of wine at Publix you get the bag free, pretty smart. The wine bags are wonderful. The large food size bags are wonderful. They are large and easy to carry. I now keep two folded up in my car at all times. No plastic accumulating in my house or in the garbage dumps. No trees destroyed to make paper bags.

Disposable plastic bags are being banned in some countries They just pile up in the landfills. Publix won't ban it's plastic bags but will continue to offer the canvas like bags. Publix supplies bins for you to recycle your old plastic bags which I assume are then turned into something else, more bags perhaps. By using recyclable canvas bags you can save enough fuel to fill 50,000 cars a year. If you love your forests you should know it takes 14 million trees to make your paper bags. Also, love the beach, love your ocean vacations? Well, 46,000 bags pollute every inch of ocean. It also seems curbside recycling doesn't really make a dent. Only 5% actually gets recycled you're actually doing more for the environment when you bring the bags back to the store according to a report Matt Lauer did on the Today show.

Whole Foods plans on discontinuing plastic bags entirely. They should be gone entirely in this chain by Earth Day, isn't that appropriatetiming? A good way to celebrate . Whole Foods is offering to give away their reusable canvas like bags this Tuesday to promote support for this new system. This will keep 100 million plastic bags out of landfills.

The bags are great to use for the beach or believe it or not, to carry a small dog. They are meshy and breathable so the dog is hidden but has air flow.

I love that they support the environment and I love that they are inexpensive and practical. Help celebrate. Pick up several of these great bags. Happy Earth Day.