Paper Bags or Plastic Bags? New Proposals Like Neither

Reusable cloth shopping bags are the way to go. Small produce items can be corraled into thin-film plastic bags, which can be reused; large stuff can simply be chucked loose into the cloth bag.

Both of the major supermarket chains in our area have been selling cloth bags at the checkout, as do most of the big box and hardware stores. Even if you forgot or came without a bag, it's easy enough to buy another one for a buck. Pretty soon, you have so many cloth bags you can't forget them because you have to wade through them to get to the door....

The supermarket where I shop actually gives me points towards free groceries for every cloth bag I use to pack my groceries. Over a couple of years, I have had eighty bucks worth of free groceries - that would buy 80 bags (even I don't have that many..!)

Hemp is the best, even many eco friendly bags I see, even though made of recycled materials add to the waste of oils in plastic and proper disposal.

I, like many have been so tired of seeing the blue bags strewn along our highways for years.

In reality, we need to become lesser consumer societies, buy small, buy locally, and buy our food needs daily.

It's a bit off-topic, but I'd like to see grocery-item producers do more toward eliminating packaging waste, weight and bulk on their end. Many have, and I applaud their efforts. But so much more might be done, I think.

If the packaging is smaller and lighter, it makes it so much more attractive to lug home. And once home and emptied, if the husks are less work for me to haul to the curb for disposal / recycling the happier I am too.