Grocery Bag
Use whatever reusable bags you have at home – plastic bags, totes, old backpacks, it’s all good! When I started this journey, I felt reusing plastic bags sent the wrong message – that using plastic is okay. But the environmental footprint of manufacturing cotton is huge. I would have to use a cotton tote over 7,000 times to have the same cumulative environmental impact (in terms of water and energy use) as 1 plastic bag. I’d also have to use the cotton tote 52 times to have the same climate change impact as 1 plastic bag. So reuse whatever you have, and don’t feel guilty about it. Last year my friend Marc gave me this tote, which was gifted to him by a friend, and I plan to use it infinitum until it dies.
If I ever run out of bags, I’ve been eye-ing Chico Bags, which fit on your keychain but hold up to 25lbs of groceries (450 times their weight). I also like that the bags are made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic bottles, and that the company is a certified B corporation.