Articles

Submitted By: Steve Richard (swrichard@comcast.net)

Challenge

I’m one of those people who has finally trained myself to bring reusable grocery bags to the store every time, but never really thought much about the produce bags that end up inside them. Somehow they never seemed as significant. But the reality is that every time I shop I probably end up with 4-8 bags of produce and that easily adds up to 500+ plastic produce bags a year. The grocery stores now accept plastic bags for recycling (typically used for decking) near the entrance/exit of the stores, but I’m not really organized enough to do that very well. And as we all know plastic doesn’t decompose, so virtually all plastic ever produced is still on the planet somewhere.

Solution Details

Then, this past Fall I noticed reusable produce bags hanging in the produce section at Diablo Foods and had “aha” moment. It immediately struck me as a great idea as I surveyed all the produce bags in my cart. For just $6.99 I could buy a pack of six reusable bags and would never have to use a disposable bag again!! Made by washableproducebags.com, the white nylon mesh bags can be washed in the dishwasher and seem pretty durable. Since I found them, I’ve been training myself to bring them to the store with my reusable grocery bags, usually inside one of them. When I get to the store I pull them out so they are easy to access.

Since I’ve been trying to avoid using disposable produce bags, I’ve realized that half the time I really don’t need any type of bag. So, now I just put many items that have their own protective skin (that I won’t be eating), like bananas, oranges, grapefruit, melon, avocado, onion, etc. directly into the grocery basket without any bag. I use the bags when I really need them, like for a pound of green beans.

Benefits & Payback

The obvious benefit is to not have to use 500+ plastic produce bags a year that just end up in the landfill. And I’m relieved to not have to keep them and try to remember to bring them back to be recycled. The other nice little benefit is that the produce bags are already in my cart and I don’t ever have to hunt them down in the produce section or struggle to figure out which end to open and how to get the two sides apart!

I’ve been so psyched about the reusable produce bags that I’ve already given 10 packs to friends, hopefully preventing the unnecessary use of over 5000+ produce bags per year!!

Informational Links

washableproducebags.com – available at Diablo Foods and Whole Foods

I’ve also seen other types on the Internet:
reusablebags.com – a great selection