Memory loss is my problem. I have created one myself but I always forget to grob it before I go shopping. I simply need to develop a plan and take the bags back out to the car immediately after I unload the groceries. Perhaps that will work.

BTW, the One Hot Stove bag is crocheted, not knitted. Just had to mention that because I want people to go out and learn how to crochet!!

 Suzanne, the Farmer's Wife

That's one reason I was glad the Costco bag came in threes! I can usually manage to keep one of the three in the car. Taking it right back out is a good idea.

Thanks for catching the mistake on Nupur's bag. Will fix right now so crocheting gets proper acknowledgement. I love her bag.

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen

We have them. I hung them with the car keys, the husband moved them. I put them on the stairpost by the back door, then I throw my jacket over them so they're invisiible. I think what I really need to do is put them in the car, already.

It's funny because when we walk for groceries, I use my little daypack and throw stuff in there. It's ONLY when we take the car that I forget the damn bags. Grrrr. 

Nerd's Eye View

We don't have a Costco here, but I've heard such great things about the place I hope we get one soon.  I have found a couple of wonderful green bags that I use at a local Farmer's Market.

I had a hard time remember to put the bags in my car when I'd leave, but what I started doing is just placing them there after I put the groceries away.  It's become a part of the ritual of shopping.  I unload, and then all bags get placed in the back of the car for the next trip.

 For all of those plastic bags you are not using anymore but don't want to toss into a landfill, there are a few great crafts here at Craftzine including making new reusable(but pretty) bags out of them.

Doris

The Leaky Cauldron

Thanks for the craft ideas and another vote for taking them to the car as soon as you unload!

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen

Like the crocheted bag from cotton yarn, I'm a big fan of making reusable bags from "plarn" - yarn made from plastic bags. I blogged about my recent crochet project here - with pictures.

The guru of all things recycled-plastic-bags is Cindy at MyRecycledBags. She gives a great tutorial for making 'plarn' here: http://snipurl.com/make_plarn. I made the Recycled Plastic Grocery Tote Bag - it was really easy to crochet and 'reclaimed' over 50 plastic bags from the landfill. I get comments at the grocery store all the time! Just yesterday I hauled it out in the checkout line, and the checker said, "Oh, you're the girl with the plastic bag bag!" The bag is quite a conversation starter, and always leads to a discussion on what a great idea it is.

I'm planning on making a lunch bag next - http://snipurl.com/recycled_lunch_sack

Angie

My mom sewed bags out of heavy cotton one year and used them to wrap everyone's Christmas present. She used a plastic grocery bag for the pattern. Since then, I've collected various heavy duty cotton bags (two favourites have straps that are long enough to use as shoulder straps. We do virtually all our grocery shopping on our bikes (parking always available RIGHT outside the door, easy to ride from vegetable store to poultry store, to bulk goods store, etc. etc.) I keep the bags inside one bag that I put in my bicycle pannier and grab it just before going into a store.  I've also started re-using those net bags that onions come in (we buy onions in 10lb bags). The bags have drawstrings at the top.

Lately, we've started adding to the stash any small clear plastic bags that vegetables come in, as long as the bags are clean and dry. It took me a while to remember that they were there but at last, these too are being recycled.

It's become such a habit for us to say "no bags" that some of the shop keepers automatically say when they see us "no bag". If we've forgotten to bring our recycle bags into the store, we just walk out of the store carrying our purchases in our arms to our bicycles.

Now, if only we could figure out a way to transport the BBQgas cylinder  on our bikes!

Elizabeth
blog from OUR kitchen

(In winter, when it's too icy to ride, we walk, wearing backpacks, the not long distance to the shops.)  

Keeping them in the car is the only thing that works for me. I keep a bag of bags in each vehicle. In the front passenger seat. If they are even in the back seat or the trunk, I *will* forget them.

*Love* the links to the crocheted bags. 

I put my totes on the front door knob so I can grab them the next time I go out to my car.  Then I leave them on the front seat so I don’t forget to grab them going into the store.

Thanks for the great links to what others are doing! 

Izmet

Izmet’s Dream: Reclaiming Paradise

Izmet’s Dream Shop

I initially had a hard time remembering to take my bags too, but once I realized that most of the stores give a 5 cent credit for every bag you use I started to make more of an effort to remember them. If I know im going shopping the next day, i'll put the bags on top of whatever im walking out of the house with so that im SURE not to forget them.

www.mochamommyonthego.wordpress.com

I hang our green bags on the back door after we unpack our groceries. Since they are right there next time I head to the car, I grab them as I leave. We keep them in the car.  We only have one car, so there's not an issue of having the bags in the other car when we get to the store.

I can't claim I always remember my bags, but hanging then on the front door knob helps me remember to at least take them back out to the car.

A while back someone told me that she makes herself buy new reusable bags in the store (since just about everywhere sells them now) if she forgets her's. It didn't take long for her to start remembering. ;)

Amy
Crunchy Domestic Goddess
BlogHers Act contributing editor

I have one of those little bags that zips into a teeny, tiny square, and I really need to carry that in my purse at all times. That would solve part of the problem. There's no question I have got to get a better system -- I have so many tote bags (and am collecting more every day), and seem to always forget them!

My favorite of all my bags, though, is one that I picked up for $.99 at Trader Joe's -- it holds a six-pack of wine!

--- Genie, The Inadvertent Gardener

Coming from a third world country where trash is abundant and is becoming a huge national problem that threatens the environment and community, I am happy to read about people taking the initiative of opting out from the use of plastic bags. 

I for one carry several of those cotton bags similar to Costco in the car and at home. I know it doesn't look very appealing (mine is dirty white in color) but hey, we are helping the environment in our own little way.  It actually help when we start this kind of changes at home to influence our children.  

Soul 

"A baby is God's opinion that life should go on." - Carl Sandburg

I live in a rural area, and I don't just go to the store willy-nilly.  When I go, I buy enough for the whole week in order not to make a lot of trips and use so much fuel.  We have six children, so we buy a good bit of groceries, so I need a LOT of bags!  I love the smaller bags you can buy at IKEA, but I don't have enough of those for a whole grocery trip yet, and I hate to buy like 20 of those little canvas bags that the grocery sells, but I guess it's a good investment if I remember to bring them with when I go.  :)
Val

I also have a hard time rembering my bag. I have 15 and can't remember to put them back in the car, then forget them in the car when I get to the grocery store. It doesn't help that my husband and sons stick the empties in the pantry when I get back from the grocery store! 

http://confessionsofacraftaddict.com

 I, too, purchased the awesome Costco bags since I also have a serious relationship going on with that retailer (when you're feeding a household of 10, you do develop deep relationships with your grocery vendor)...I felt so green and enlightened...and then have promptly forgotten the bags at home, forgotten the bags in the back of the van during the middle of a rain storm, forgotten the bags, forgotten the bags, forgotten the bags.

And now I know I am not alone.

Guess that's part of the community and beauty of BlogHer, huh?

But you are so right, it's all about developing the habit--so I'm gonna keep giving it a go! 

Octamom

www.octamom.com

the musings of a mother to a multitude

My grocery store has put a beautiful sign on the door that says, "did you remember your bags?"  Maybe you could ask your favourite stores to do the same.

It's so helpful, I don't mind going back to the car before I start shopping.  And the bags go back into the car as soon as they are emptied.

Kath

http://3yrplan.typepad.com/soeursdujour/

I try to be mindful and avoid waste and adding to the landfills and I have tried for years to recycle as much as I can.  Wally World (Wal-Mart) has large and sturdy bags for $.99

If only I can remember to bring them.  I now either put them next to the plastic bag lady in the kitchen so I can remember them when I go, or I put them in my vehicle.  Which sometimes I still forget! 

@ KayakWoman, I like the hint of putting them on the front seat.  And I really need to actually put them in the car because half the time I go on the spur of the moment when I feel like it!

And I really love knowing that so many people are becoming more conscious about this habit.

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen

I've made it a point to put the bags right back in the car as soon as I've emptied the groceries and now it's become a habit.  And I feel really, REALLY awful the few times I've forgotten to bring my own bags.  I know that it is a really small thing but I do feel as though I am helping a tiny bit each and every time I make the conscious decision to bring my reusable bags with me.

You have to bring your own bags.  Or pay for plastic bags (ouch).  One thing my boyfriend and I do if we forget our bags, is just to load them into our trunk without bags and carry them into the apartment by handful.  Believe me, a little self-inflicted punishment does wonders for your memory.

My bags are in the car. Do I remember them? No!

I'm glad to see some ideas for remembering. I have to make it a point from now on. Maybe I'll post a stick it on my steering wheel until it becomes habit!  Is it that you have to do something seven times before it becomes habit?

Great post! 

Kathy

Mama Marathoner

I've converted hubby over to the dark side! He's afraid to bring plastic into the house now. YES! More fear is good.

We keep them in the back of the car as well, then it's only a short jog for hubby to race back out to the parking lot when we are in line and I've forgotten them. I also have those Chico bags in my purse for when I don't feel like running back out to the car.

The Costco bags were a God-send - I'd about had it with their craptacular card-board box system. The pickles always bit it. My garage smells like a deli....course, most boxes aren't made to support 25lbs worth of pickles.

http://whymomdrinksrum.blogspot.com/

 Conventional motherhood? You bet it includes rum!

I'm living abroad right now in a small town in Brazil. About six months ago, having a reusable bag was unheard of. I came back in June from a trip to the States and was thrilled to finally see some canvas bags for sale in our local market (which is owned by Walmart).

I think it is going to take a while for it to catch on, but I always take mine with me. I walk about 7 blocks to the store and it is so much easier to carry a larger bag over my shoulder. Five plastic bags in each hand can really be painful by the time I get home!

I actually blogged about our bags here last week. 

Blondie in Brazil Blog about my adventures living in Brazil: www.blondieinbrazil.blogspot.com

My thoughts on real food as a nutritionist: www.fakefoodfree.com

I just love my reusable bags, they seem to protect the massive investment of groceries much better than the plastic ones. My family has just gotten into the habit of tossing the bags into my car when they see them (nice), but before that I had to write "Take Grocery Bags" on my grocery list in big letters. The link about making plarn is so cool!  We cannot recycle plastic bags in Ann Arbor, the recycling facility says that they mess up the machines, so, I have a giant bag of bags to make plarn with.

Marianne : )

It took me about two weeks to remember to take my cloth bags with me to the store.  Now I have some stashed in the car, a few under the sink that I use when I walk to the store when my husband has the car in the day, and one in each of the purses I regularly carry so that a quick trip to the drug store or Mar-shalls, doesn't mean I end up with a plastic bag.

 I am happy that Stop & Shop gives me 5 cents per cloth bag I use per trip.

I am going to try to make "plarn" and crochet a resuable bag made from plastic.

Any idea where I can find biodegradeable trash bags?  Do they even exist?

 Thanks for this post! 

blog.candelariasilva.com

Good and plenty!

I have the Costco bags, too, and they're amazing! I can fit 50+ pounds of stuff in one and still carry it comfortably.

I also keep several cloth bags in the car for smaller shopping trips. At this point, I have enough of them between the house and the car that I always have a couple available for spontaneous shopping trips.

Using my own bags is great. I don't have a problem remembering to take them with me, I have two which stay in the car. After I have used them, I return them to the trunk.

The greatest difficulty I have is getting baggers to realize that all of my purchases will fit in the bag and packing them with the heavy items on the bottom.

When I was young, my grandmother would carry her own bags to the store and the baggers would know how to pack a bag. The wide use of plastic bags made baggers just put a few things in each bag, rather than packing them smart. I often am asked, are you sure you don't want another bag? Then after I rearrange my items for them quickly they realize that there is space left over! (This does not happen at Trader Joe's!)

I do prefer to reuse some heavy plastic bags or forgoing the use of a bag altogether if I only have one or two items. [Try doing that at the grocery store - it flips them out!]

Rethink your relationship with money... http://www.urbanfrugal.com.

It's wonderful to see such a great response to this topic as I'm a complete convert to shopping bags.

I have a collection that is still growing, of the calico shopping bags. I started with just any that I found but am now carefully picking them. My most regular ones are a large one from a glass cane (for lampworking) business, another large one from Tasmania and a series of 4 - 5 medium size bags including one from the Cat Protection Society, a supplier and a craft show.

They hang on the end of a rack and collecting 2 - 3 of them to go in my bag on the way out the door is just habit now. I tend to have 1 in my bag most of the time anyway. Getting into the habit isn't that hard once you choose to make it happen.

By being soft and durable fabric they are really easy to grab and take with me. There are harder ones like the green Coles bags but while I use them for carrying earring stands stock for shows they don't fit in my handbags easily.

I must admit now, when I see people putting one little thing in a plastic bag at the shops (or a complete grocery shop with heaps of plastic bags) I think they are idiots and selfish - it's like a reformed smoker!

The only plastic bags I do accept are from my butcher for carrying the meat shopping and they are bio-degradable and I recycle them. I only shop at butchers who use bio-degradable bags.

Well there's my say. :)

Smiles,

Belinda

Enjoy Your Earrings more with Jewelry Display Stands

that there are so many people who are already using the re-usable bags or are making the commitment to start doing it. I'm kind of blown away at the response to this post!

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen

I've been using the solution and this post prompted me to post it on my site today - key chains with hooks or Carribiners. Hook them all together and hang them outside of the cart. Go here for the visuals http://inwomenwetrust.typepad.com/in_women_we_trust/2008/07/pa-hrefhttpwwwb.html

Hey, I like the keychain hook idea!

In Ireland we're charged a huge tax (about 40c in USD) for each plastic bag we ask for, so I use big canvas bags. But we're rural and have five in our family, so when I shop, I fill the car. All my bags folded up barely fit into the two biggest canvas bags, and the shopping trolley only has one hook to hang them from...which is conveniently located where the baby can kick it to the floor every few seconds. ARGH.

So next shopping trip, I'm getting hooks!

Susan

stonyriverfarm.blogspot.com

www.carersgroup.com 

I just jumped on the reusable bag bandwagon a couple months ago. It's been great! I LOVE my bag. I got it from the Container Store and it's super durable, cute and practical. It has little pockets on the inside for your phone and other little stuff, so I don't even carry a purse with me when I use my shopping bag. It's nice not to have the cabinets under the sink brimming with plastic bags that I can't reuse fast enough.

http://loveisdope.wordpress.com

I just jumped on the reusable bag bandwagon a couple months ago. It's been great! I LOVE my bag. I got it from the Container Store and it's super durable, cute and practical. It has little pockets on the inside for your phone and other little stuff, so I don't even carry a purse with me when I use my shopping bag. It's nice not to have the cabinets under the sink brimming with plastic bags that I can't reuse fast enough.

http://loveisdope.wordpress.com

Have you checked out the ityse.com? They have a great bag system. Multiple bags that tuck inside a very stylish outer bag. They have several styles even one my husband will use. The inside mesh bags are very sturdy 25 + lbs, easy to wash and no fussy folding when I'm done.

I checked and they are assembled in the USA by prisoners in Oregon State prison. the money goes to pay for their room and board and child support and so on.

they make great gifts.