Reusable Grocery Bags

Today's random point of thankfulness falls on reusable grocery bags. I am pretty sure I have never been accused of being environmentally friendly. It's not like I go around dumping toxic chemicals in lakes or anything. I just don't go out of my way to be "green". I like it when it makes sense or saves me money. Reusable grocery bags work for me.


I grew up in the grand days of paper grocery bags. They were big and had a thousand different uses around the house. I'm pretty sure I was a grocery bag squaw at least twice for school Thanksgiving celebrations. Then it was decided that maybe we cut down too many trees and the plastic bag came along. They hold half as much and rip at the drop of a hat. For awhile we had the choice of paper or plastic, or as one bag boy I heard say, "kill a tree or choke a fish?". Those days soon came to an end and we were stuck with the plastic bag.
I didn't embrace the reusable bag as quickly as I should have. I saw it as a symbol of all those global warming, tree hugger, liberal types, but I was so wrong. I received my first bag free as part of a promotion at Kroger and then another through Publix. I started realizing how much they would hold and used them a lot for road trips. One day I happened to leave them in the van and on a whim took them into Walmart with me. It was a real eye opener. All of my groceries fit into the 3 bags, and the handles made it easier to get them to the car. I was hooked. Now a few stores like Target are actually giving small discounts for bringing your own bags. I am a changed woman. I may forget from time to time, but from now on it is the reusable bag for me.