Product Review: Reusable Green Grocery Shopping Bags

How many times have you just not been in the mood to hear "Paper or Plastic" as you finally get to the front of the line after grocery shopping? I don't know about you but sometimes that inane question drives me crazy. They don't even look at you when they ask, like a puppet, the words just come out. I end up choosing plastic for the most part since it's easier to recycle but many times the bag's flimsy handles ends up tearing before I even get to my front door spilling my groceries or, worse yet, empty in the trunk of my car, I then have to reach all the way to the rear of the trunk, not an easy thing to do after shoulder surgery, to retrieve what's back there..

So it was a natural that I would get very interested in the new reusable bags, called "Green Bags" that have just recently been put on the market by the biggest grocery store chain in Florida, Publix Supermarkets...One of our local news stations, WFOR 4, the CBS affiliate in Miami, did a story about them and had an online Poll for the viewers to respond to the question, "would you use them"....I logged on and immediately said a resounding yes!

When I mentioned them to my daughter she also said she would be interested in using them... just a few days later, she came over with 6 bags for me as a little present...I had been housebound after shoulder surgery and couldn't get to the store myself and she had heard they were selling out like crazy.

Now, when I'm about to have my groceries checked out, I hold up my Green Bags to the bagboy/bag girl, before he/she gets a chance to even ask me that annoying question.

What I really like about them is the fact that each bag holds about 3-4 times the amount of goods than a plastic bag did and they have a flat bottom which keeps them standing upright in the car much more effectively than plastic or even the big paper bags...they have nice long double handle straps, about 7-8 inches, so are easily transported into the house from the car...My only problem is that I have to make sure they don't over-pack them in order to keep them from being too heavy and to distribute the weight of my groceries by not putting all the heavy items or bottles in one, which sometimes can happen if I don't oversee the packing.

Apparently I wasn't the only one interested since these bags sell out as soon as a new supply comes in, I was told recently...At only $1.49 a bag they certainly are reasonably priced considered that Wild Oats bags sell for about $7.99 and eco-friendly websites offer similar bags for as high as $20 and even more for designer logos..yes, designers are getting into this market...I read an article in the newspaper that bags are going on the market by high end designers for hundreds of dollars...

I'm happy with my Green Bags...I love the fact that they are washable should something spill out during transit and though they are made of non-woven polypropylene, they keep their shape better then the canvas bags other stores sell...No, polypropylene may not be exactly eco-friendly but you do not throw these out so they will stay out of the landfills.

And though plastic bags can be recycled how many of us really do return all of them?

According to one eco-friendly organization, Americans throw away 100 billion plastic bags a year, which require 12 million barrels of oil...can you imagine that? 12 million barrels of oil! Just to manufacture an item you throw out after one use....It's mind-boggling...One family alone can accumulate 60 plastic bags on just 4 trips to the stores.

The only caveat is that you have to remember to bring them with you on each trip to the store....what I have found works for me is to take the bags, after I carry my groceries in the house, and put one inside each other, then I hang the bag holding the others on my closet door knob near by front door...the next time I go out, I grab the bags and throw them in the car...That simple!

I applaud Publix markets and all the other chains around the country that are selling "Green Bags" or similar bags with perhaps similar names so that we, as consumers, can do just a little something extra for our environment and for our own convenience.