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In Colorado the Albertsons stores have canvas totes for a dollar. I've used simular bags for many years. I find that they are extremely convenient because they hold more, are easier to carry and most stores here will give you a five cent credit for each bag used. For the enviroment and the above advantages it pays to bag it with canvas.

Trader Joe's has the cheapest canvas bags around here (Albuquerque). Wild Oats wants $8 a pop (!) for thiers. I keep some plastic pags in my canvas bag and in my truck, so I always have spares, either for extra groceries or because I forgot to bring the canvas out to the truck.

The only time I use a canvas bag is when I hit the farmer's market. When I do my bi-weekly grocery shopping, I have anywhere from 15-35 bags (5 person household) and it just isn't feasible.

isn't it possible that some of you that are saying you have xx many bags from the trip to the grocery store, are getting the heavier items double bagged, which would be eliminated by having a canvas bag?

i'm with j .... after having spent a significant amount of time in europe i'm used to carrying canvas bags and feel guilty when i forget. something that really frustrates me in the U.S. is when you see someone pick up maybe 2 or 3 small items and then gets it in a plastic bag to go. can people not carry things in their hands? is a bag really necessary?

and elderberry - what the heck are you buying that you need 17 bags for?

go here to get some really cute canvas grocery bags http://www.delight.com/Envirosax-Delightfully-Pretty-Reusable-Grocery-Bags

in holland super strong shopping bags are 10 cents and very durable reinforced plastic bags are a couple bucks. those things are so strong I still have a couple from when I lived tehre 5 years ago. we use them for everything.

everyone reuses their bags.

Grocery stores are not the only ones using plastic bags. Other merchants also use them. These bags I find tend to be larger than the grocery type and a little stronger. We use these for lining trash containers and desposing of household waste. As for one eyed man I have seen the way packers at the store load plastic bags 3 or 4 items to a bag. The canvas bags I've been using are extremely sturdy and can be loaded the way no plastic sack can be. I have a household of 3 and seven bags does the trick most every week end.

That was supposed to be 7-10, not 17-0. To save gas I only do big shopping trips if I can help it, which probably has at least a big an impact as the bags themselves.

I never let them double bag my groceries. When I walked from the grocery store in my old town, it sometimes made a difference, but here in I drive to the grocery store and it isn't needed. I do find that they wear out, with small holes after the first use and big ones after the second, so reusing them isn't practical. Maybe if they were higher quality that would make sense.

While I agree that Canvas bags can be packed heavier, that isn't always better when carrying eggs, fruit, soft bread and other delicates. The clerks at the grocery store have lots of experience packing their bags and I imagine they'd do a worse job on the unique dimensions and attributes of canvas bags. I guess that's a problem that would go away as the bags became more common. A bit of a first mover problem perhaps.

Does anyone have a problem with comfortably moving their canvas bags because they are very heavy when filled cans or liquids?

A couple of thoughts on canvas bags, yes they get washed periodically. They last forever and I have them in a taller shape and a wider shape (good for the softer things like bread). Yes, some clerks will fill them too heavy, but that keeps my 65 year old muscles in shape. I have had some of my canvas bags for at least 10 years. Some have wimpy handles and I have had to rivet on new straps

When I am done emptying my bags in the kitchen, I fold them and take the half a minute to put them right by the front door, next time I am out the door, they go back to the car. It did take me a while to remember them when running into the store, but you do get used to it......purse, grocery list, canvas bag...ok ready to shop..

If you compost all kitchen scraps (except meat of course) and do a light rinse of any plastic trays and wrap that you do end up with, they can go in the trash with no extra plastic bags. Meat scraps do go in a baggie, but it always seems that one or two plastic sacks do end up no matter how hard I try to avoid them.

With canvas bags I always pack my own bags that way I can make sure that they don't get too heavy and that things are properly distributed. It might annoy the baggers but who cares.

I recently bought a "Chico Bag" from the Takoma/Silver Spring Co-op for $4, and a similar one somewhere else. They are small stuff sacks, the size of my fist when rolled up, and I keep one in whatever purse I'm using that day. That way I always have one handy when I stop at Trader Joe's, Giant, wherever, and the cashiers do seem to like them better than re-used plastic or paper bags (they are clever). They're also washable. However, I may be an unusual shopper in that I shop for myself only, and tend to stop here and there for a couple of things during the week (usually on foot), rather than doing a big shopping trip with the car. After a month or so with my little stuff sacks, I find I am accumulating many fewer plastic and paper bags.

By the way, Trader Joe's in our area now has a per-store raffle of free groceries a couple of times a month only for people who bring their own bags - they told me last time that their bag orders have gone down 55%!