Random randomness

[LordMortis]

Tote life!

tote life

I mostly shop at places that only bring your own totes. I keep a duffel bag in my car and load most of the odds from the cart in to duffel bag in and then bring the duffel bag in minus the big items, and then take the duffel bag back to the car when I bring in the large non containerized items.

I used to carry my lunch in plastic shopping bags but I no longer have them in surplus, that is where tote life comes in to play. My lunch tote is falling apart though. It's time for a new one.

[Daehawk]

Target used to have the best bags.

You could always take your own.

Never!

It's just a matter of time. More and more states are moving toward banning plastic bags, or at least charging you extra for them to incentivize you to reuse.

Ill pick paper

[ImLawBoy]

They'll charge you for paper, too.

Why the issue with bringing your own? I hated when my grocery store banned bringing home bags for a while due to COVID protocols - we amassed so many unnecessary bags, both paper and plastic. Really felt like a huge waste, particularly since we had grown used to using our own.

[Daehawk]

Just dont like the idea of bringing my own bag. Our Aldi allows it or charges you for their bag. Shopped there maybe 5 times and never went back.

[ImLawBoy]

What don't you like about the idea of bringing your own bag? It's more secure typically than a cheapo plastic bag and it's better for the environment.

[Anonymous Bosch]

What don't you like about the idea of bringing your own bag? It's more secure typically than a cheapo plastic bag and it's better for the environment.

Reusable grocery bags can become an active microbial habitat and breeding ground for bacteria, yeast, mold, and coliforms, especially when they aren't sanitized on a sufficiently regular basis to preclude bacterial buildup and possible illness from foodborne pathogens and such.

[LordMortis]

Aldi is precisely where I go most for my bagless shopping and why I started leaving duffel back in my trunk. You can always take cardboard boxes there for free but I find breaking them down and recycling them when I get home to be more effort than just leaving duffel bag in my car.

I love me some Aldi, though they seem to be getting hard by passing on costs to the consumer. Everything there has had noticeable cost adjustments over the last year, though I do see them bringing prices down on some thing, almost like a like the store is a live commodity trade. There has been no stability in pricing or availability over the last year.

[LordMortis]

coliforms

I loved shrinkydinks growing up.

[Isgrimnur]

MSU

Furthermore, washing the bags reduced the amount of bacteria present by 99 percent.
...
Wash your bags at least once every two weeks in hot water and detergent. Adding bleach to your wash cycle will also help reduce bacterial loads.

[Daehawk]

What don't you like about the idea of bringing your own bag? It's more secure typically than a cheapo plastic bag and it's better for the environment.

I dont know. I just dont feel comfortable taking a bag into a store instead of leaving with one.

[Sudy]

I think the option should be there. I also think it should be charged for as a disincentive. But like many such programs, it could be seen to have a greater negative impact on pedestrians and the poor. Guess who's less likely to have reusable bags with them when the decide to stop at the store? People who don't drive. That may not be an issue in more rural and spread out areas where driving is mandatory, but it's always bothered me.

Around here, they've charged 5 cents for plastic shopping bags here for probably over a decade. There are always murmurings of a full plastic ban. As an apartment dweller, I tend to use these bags for garbage and cat litter. They're generally cheaper than buying boxed Glad bags, or whatever. I use re-usable ones for all the shopping trips I can plan. But when I'm commuting to the office by bus, I'm not carrying bags with me all day just in case I get asked to pick up a loaf of milk on the way home. I might consider it if the damn stores let me use my bags to hold items prior to checking out.

[Daehawk]

I use them for food donation and the bathroom wastebasket. Used to donate large bags of them to the local veterans thrift store until they closed.

[LordMortis]

I might consider it if the damn stores let me use my bags to hold items prior to checking out.

When I am finally up on the scan and pay and bag as you go movement, I probably will start carrying bags in to the store. I love the idea of checking out as I shop though I'm not there yet in reality.

[Sudy]

MSU

Furthermore, washing the bags reduced the amount of bacteria present by 99 percent.
...
Wash your bags at least once every two weeks in hot water and detergent. Adding bleach to your wash cycle will also help reduce bacterial loads.

Sure. But also, . Most bags are a fairly bulky item to wash. I'm not doing what's essentially an extra laundry load each fortnight. I presume this advice comes from the land of trust-fund mysophobes who can afford the time or money to have the rest of their existence sanitized on this biweekly timetable.

[Kraken]

Around here, they've charged 5 cents for plastic shopping bags here for probably over a decade. There are always murmurings of a full plastic ban. As an apartment dweller, I tend to use these bags for garbage and cat litter. They're generally cheaper than buying boxed Glad bags, or whatever. I use re-usable ones for all the shopping trips I can plan.

I have a whole pantry shelf crammed with hundreds of disposable plastic bags against the day when stores stop giving them out. I use them for cat litter and wastebasket liners.

I have a nice matched set of canvas totes that I take grocery shopping every week. Since I scan as I go, I can pack my grocs exactly the way I want. If I'm hoofing it to the farmers market or a local store, I fold up a thin nylon bag and put it in my pocket. Every now and then I'm caught flat-footed and have to use a disposable bag, but not often.

[ImLawBoy]

I might consider it if the damn stores let me use my bags to hold items prior to checking out.

I do that at the convenience store.

[LawBeefaroni]

MSU

Furthermore, washing the bags reduced the amount of bacteria present by 99 percent.
...
Wash your bags at least once every two weeks in hot water and detergent. Adding bleach to your wash cycle will also help reduce bacterial loads.

Sure. But also, . Most bags are a fairly bulky item to wash. I'm not doing what's essentially an extra laundry load each fortnight. I presume this advice comes from the land of trust-fund mysophobes who can afford the time or money to have the rest of their existence sanitized on this biweekly timetable.

I want to say that a cotton bag needs to be used something like 150 times before it has less impact on the environment in terms of energy used to produce. Every time you wash it the energy cost goes up. And if you're in the west right now, water is a very scarce resource. The total environmental impact from a cotton bag was like 10,000x the standard plastic bag. Again, before washing.

My memory may may be off a bit but the idea stands. It's not as simple as "reusable bags are better."

[hitbyambulance]

my mom keeps asking me when i visit if i 'need any plastic bags'. the answer is still no. stop accumulating them. i don't get it because she has like twenty thousand reusable bags floating around the house and cars.

(Seattle has a plastic bag ban at grocery stores, and yet i still seem to have to drop a pile off at the 'plastic recycling' bin at the grocery store every year - takeout food, mostly... even when i say to please don't bag the items...) standard recycling pickup here hasn't accepted them in some time.)

[LordMortis]

MSU

Furthermore, washing the bags reduced the amount of bacteria present by 99 percent.
...
Wash your bags at least once every two weeks in hot water and detergent. Adding bleach to your wash cycle will also help reduce bacterial loads.

Sure. But also, . Most bags are a fairly bulky item to wash. I'm not doing what's essentially an extra laundry load each fortnight. I presume this advice comes from the land of trust-fund mysophobes who can afford the time or money to have the rest of their existence sanitized on this biweekly timetable.

I want to say that a cotton bag needs to be used something like 150 times before it has less impact on the environment in terms of energy used to produce. Every time you wash it the energy cost goes up. And if you're in the west right now, water is a very scarce resource. The total environmental impact from a cotton bag was like 10,000x the standard plastic bag. Again, before washing.

My memory may may be off a bit but the idea stands. It's not as simple as "reusable bags are better."

Did you not hear ILB? Tote life!

I own my duffel bag whether I use plastic bags or not and... I don't wash it. I don't put fresh produce in it. That said, my larger concern for single use plastics, isn't the energy consumption to use them, it's what happens when we dispose of them. The same will go for my duffel bag when it gets too beat up. I'm not a fan of generating garbage and try to add to it as little as possible... except for paper towels... I use a lot of paper towels.

[stessier]

[gilraen]

We keep a couple of Costco cotton bags in each car. They've been reused for years and will be reused for a long time to come. I only wash them a few times a year, unless something leaks or gets spilled in one. And I don't wash them separately, they just get tossed in with other stuff.

Doing a 1-to-1 comparison between cotton and plastic bags is ridiculous: the cotton bag can probably hold at least 5-6 times as much stuff as a plastic bag, possibly more, considering how bad some store clerks are about bagging items. I went to Target last week and bought something like 5 items and ended up with 3 bags...smh.

I also keep a large plastic bag full of other plastic bags in the car, and gradually fill it up, so when I'm at the grocery store, I can remember to drop it off in the recycling bin.

[Daehawk]

Someone needs to invent the teleporter sooner rather than later. Teleport to the store with your own cart, shop, buy, teleport home with full cart.

Barring that perhaps stores could fully deliver. You go shopping, buy all you want, then just leave and the store gets it to your house in some reusable storage container.

[Blackhawk]

You people must shop one meal at a time. Since the only real grocery stores are 30 miles away, we have to shop once a week for four people. We typically end up with 15-20 bags, sometimes more. We'd have to take a second cart just to carry 25 cloth bags, or leave them in the trunk, go out, and come in with our arms bulging with these things. And then we'd... what, pile them all on the floor while we pack them?

[wonderpug]

Reusable bags aren't as complicated or difficult to use as you're thinking.

[Blackhawk]

I've used them. I still don't see a practical way to handle 25 of the suckers while shopping or at the checkout.

[LordMortis]

video here

Did he go to the John Greene school of cadence?

[Holman]

You people must shop one meal at a time. Since the only real grocery stores are 30 miles away, we have to shop once a week for four people. We typically end up with 15-20 bags, sometimes more. We'd have to take a second cart just to carry 25 cloth bags, or leave them in the trunk, go out, and come in with our arms bulging with these things. And then we'd... what, pile them all on the floor while we pack them?

My cloth bags hold the equivalent of 2 or 3 plastic bags each. Your 15-20 plastic bags would be six or eight of them. Empty and stuffed together (for a household of five like mine), they're no bigger than a shoe box until you fill them at checkout.

[Remus West]

When is enough enough?

[LordMortis]

When you stood all you can stands and you can't stands no more?

[Remus West]

When you stood all you can stands and you can't stands no more?

Probably.

[Kraken]

You people must shop one meal at a time. Since the only real grocery stores are 30 miles away, we have to shop once a week for four people. We typically end up with 15-20 bags, sometimes more. We'd have to take a second cart just to carry 25 cloth bags, or leave them in the trunk, go out, and come in with our arms bulging with these things. And then we'd... what, pile them all on the floor while we pack them?

My cloth bags hold the equivalent of 2 or 3 plastic bags each. Your 15-20 plastic bags would be six or eight of them. Empty and stuffed together (for a household of five like mine), they're no bigger than a shoe box until you fill them at checkout.

I wonder if that was considered in the studies referenced in the linked video; it looked like their calculations were all based on one bag, but one cotton tote does the work of 2-4 plastic film bags. Every week, I buy eight 2-liter beverage bottles (or more when there's a good sale). I can neatly fit four bottles in one cotton tote. You can't realistically carry more than two bottles per disposable plastic bag, and if you're going to carry them any distance you shouldn't bag more than one bottle, because they're prone to tearing.

Put another way, I shop once a week for two. I use all eight of my bags because I'm sorting by category; some of them will have only a few items. If I bagged purely by volume, I'd easily get by with six. When reusables were banned, I was bringing home 15 plastic bags per week. So Holman's math checks out. Since each cotton bag is doing the work of 2-3 plastic bags, I'd only have to use them a couple thousand times to break even. Which I won't, obviously, but I prefer their durability.

[ImLawBoy]

I've used them. I still don't see a practical way to handle 25 of the suckers while shopping or at the checkout.

I go shopping once a week for 5 people. It's really not a problem at all. You can always stuff all the bags into the biggest bag and then hang it off the handle of the cart (or over your shoulder if you prefer). Plus the bags are big enough that you don't need anywhere close to 25 unless you're seriously underfilling the bags. It's a pain at checkout if there's no bagger, but it's still doable between me and the cashier filling bags.

[Sudy]

There's a pretty wide variation in reusable bag material, quality, and compactability. I too use ILB's method, but given that I do most of my shopping on foot I'm rarely carrying more than four bags at a time. Some of my bags I love, others I hate... there are definitely some that don't like being folded or squished. Though they often have other areas where they excel. My bags are like my childrens.

One of the grocery delivery services we use uses a combination of strong, handled paper bags and reusables. I love the paper ones because I use them to hold recyclables. When I take a load out to the apartment's bins, the bag can stay behind. But I now have a huge glut of around 40 reusables that I can't find a purpose for. I guess I'll give them to Value Village or something, or maybe ask some of the grocery delivery people if they want some back.

[TheMix]

It's a pain at checkout if there's no bagger, but it's still doable between me and the cashier filling bags.

If your bags are sturdy enough (the CostCo ones are awesome in that regard)... I learned a trick from a bagger once - fold the top down an inch or so all the way around. The bag will then stand up on it's own. Very hand when filling. Though the CostCo bags also have fairly flat bottoms. So if your bags aren't shaped right, the trick won't help.

[stessier]

video here

Did he go to the John Greene school of cadence?

I can't tell if you know that's his brother.

[LordMortis]

video here

Did he go to the John Greene school of cadence?

I can't tell if you know that's his brother.

I do not but I made the jump, as I've never known even identical twin with a distinct cadence with that much similarity.

[Madmarcus]

Barring that perhaps stores could fully deliver. You go shopping, buy all you want, then just leave and the store gets it to your house in some reusable storage container.

That's exactly how I'll get through my two week quarantine when I go back to Korea in a month. Use the app to order. The next morning before 8am I have the groceries outside my door in a reusable box. Either leave the box outside when I get the next delivery and they take it back or schedule a free pickup. I don't even have to "go shopping"!

I also have a friend willing to drop beers outside my door since Coupang doesn't do alcohol.

[Daehawk]

Wheres a good place to order or buy in store a trifold wallet insert? The plastic thing that holds photos and cards. Mine is wearing out. I bought a few a few years back just in case but now I cant find them. My wife always knew where to get them but I dont.

And can you get bigger ones with more panels? I like having photos.

[Holman]

My wife was just picked to be on a Grand Jury that will meet two days a week for the next two years.

Obviously she can't tell me anything about what they're doing, but I'm surprised that she was chosen in the first place. She's a fairly well-known activist in local education issues and has testified many times at public hearings. She also made sure they knew that she was close friends with one member of the city council and knows several others (as well as our state rep and state senator) personally, just so that there wouldn't be any questions of conflict of interest or whatever.

Presumably the charges considered won't be dealing with local politics.

[Kasey Chang]

Wheres a good place to order or buy in store a trifold wallet insert? The plastic thing that holds photos and cards. Mine is wearing out. I bought a few a few years back just in case but now I cant find them. My wife always knew where to get them but I don't. And can you get bigger ones with more panels? I like having photos.

Just search on Amazon for "wallet inserts" and there's a ton of them. Most are "6 pages" (so 12 cards) but you can find some that are 10. This one seems to be a pretty good deal, 3 sets fo $8, just make sure it fits your wallet.



Oh, and this vendor has a couple different variations, from accordion to side opening to trifold