Noted and Dotefully Toting.

I have at least 7 different kinds of tote bags. We spent less than $5 US dollars on our 7 reusable bags. Most were given away for free at trade shows that I've attended over the past few years.  I didn't imagine it back then what I would use them for other than maybe going to the beach with them, but grocery shopping?!  What a delightful idea!  Since 2008 now, I hardly have to use plastic bags from any store.  Even one branch of our county library system has stopped providing plastic bags, which primarily allows its patrons to bring their own bags to carry their library items. And I LOVE the idea!  More stores are offering for their customers to purchase them, and I get it, they want to capitalize on the idea of doing their part to be "green".

I usually find a good deals on them or with them as well.  Our local market store, Fresh and Easy was offering a free canvas bag if you made a purchase of $xx. CVS stores offer $.25 towards their extra care bucks if you also grab a "Bag Tag" and have the cashier scan in the tag each day you make a purchase from the store; which the initial investment is $.99 for the tag.  Another grocery store, Smith's applies points towards your rewards card for future coupons. The military commissaries offer them for $.70 each while other stores sell them for $.99 each.

To me and my family, it is still worth paying the additional amount for a reusable bag.  It reduces the plastic waste on our streets, and landfills.  With the current plastic bags we have in our home from our "oops, I forgot to grab the reusable bags" quick grocery trips, I use them as my trash bags in our bathrooms.  I save some for camping, as the larger Target and Toys R Us ones are great for carrying dishes to the faucets and as trash bags.  Any excess ones that will not fit into our plastic bag holder on the pantry door gets taken to the grocery store where they recycle them for us. My older sister was attending a high school dance; I remember she used a trash bag as her dress.  I don't know what dance it was for; I was about 5 years old at the time, I just remember her and her friends cutting out holes for arms and her head and putting it on and walking out of the house.   I once saw a plastic bench on the side of a grocery store that said it was made of 2000 + recycled plastic bags and I had to sit on it because it was thrilling to know that we are able to create it into something better.  Target even posts 10 suggestions on the side of their bags on how to reuse them.  And that is one of the very reasons why I give them my business more than any other retailer, because they truly understand their communities and the environment.