If you’re like me, you’ve been ducking into stores for holiday errands between meetings or on your way to/from the office.
If you’re like me, you’ve compiled every last one of your folding reusable bags , and keep an arsenal by the door.
If you’re like me, you’re transferring them to the passenger seat of the car when you head out.
If you’re like me, you’re stashing bags in your purse each time you brave the holiday madness.
If you’re like me, you’re offering up reusable bags to cashiers at non-grocery stores who are completely and totally befuddled by your request (even though the store sells their own reusable bags!)
If you’re like me, you’re obsessed with reusable bags and have an enviable collection so you never run out (I make a point of testing all of the bags we sell). (full story)
But chances are you’re not like me and reusable bags are another habit waiting to take hold, another conscious decision to ‘do the right thing’. One that you may, or may not resolve to improve upon. Because you’re not like me, I decided to write the Reusable Bag Tip of the Week to help businesses, nonprofits and individuals do all they can to reduce the waste caused by single use paper and plastic bags.
So back to reusable bags and holiday shopping: when I return home with ‘the loot’ I’m able to freely walk into the house without the kids seeing a super-sized, somewhat see-through plastic bag – blazoned with the stores name on it. I can casually say hello with my hemp reusable bag hung over my shoulder and meander down to the basement where the unwrapped gifts reside…waiting for the big day.
So what’s wrong with the picture above? The problem I’ve noticed is the gifts stay inside the bags, so the next time I go shopping I don’t have my favorite reusable bags. This isn’t a problem for me but most people don’t have the quantity of bags they need for weekly grocery shopping -and- weekly errands — let alone holiday shopping.
The average family needs about 2-3 bags per person for weekly trips to the supermarket. That’s 8-12 bags for a family of four, per week, just for groceries. It may seem like a lot, but baggers don’t like to over-crowd your food so you’ll go through quite a few reusable bags in order to leave the store without plastic.
In addition to grocery shopping, you should plan on a handful more (preferably the small folding bags) for weekly errands. You should also account for bags which are intended for groceries, but inevitably end up used for sleepovers, returns and storing things around the house. If you’re a modern family with two cars and two people who switch up shopping duty, you might find it helps to keep a set of bags in the ‘other’ car.
That adds up to a lot of reusable bags!
If you’re fashion conscientious, you’ll find a slew of stylish bags with nifty features and fabrics for consumer purchase. If you’re the frugal type, you should start by searching your closets for unused trade show bags or other freebies and add those to your collection.
If you haven’t jumped on the reusable bag bandwagon, that’s ok too. We’re seeing more and more businesses use reusable bags for promotions, and more and more schools using reusable bags for fundraisers — so you’ll soon have all the bags you need, and maybe a few extras to pass on to a friend.
