PrintTo Canvas Bag or Not to Canvas Bag
Washingtonians are no strangers to canvas bags. Plenty of lobbyists tote eco-chic "Save the Turtles" or "Barack the Vote" sacks on the Metro. But remembering to pack that extra one for the grocery run after work is a whole 'nother story.
Annapolis, our Chesapeake Bay-side neighbors to the east, have spearheaded a plastic bag ban, following the lead of cities such as San Francisco, which enacted a ban in March, and Oakland in June. A similar switch in D.C. might take some time. "It's a huge lifestyle change, and a bunch of people just won't remember to bring their own," said Whole Foods Mid-Atlantic marketing director Sarah Kenney. Our minds still think in terms of paper-or-plastic, she said on the phone yesterday, and that's OK.
But the Mid-Atlantic region is trying to change that, beginning this fall with air fresheners that say "Remember Your Reusable Bags." Like a Post-it note, this reminder—the first will be grape-scented—should rouse that last-minute mental synapse in the car. Sniff sniff. Oh yeah. Snag the bloody bag! And maybe—just maybe—by the time the freshener's scent runs out, the snagging part will come naturally. It's Whole Foods's take on operant conditioning, and like rats, we need that environmental trigger.
As far as reusable bag couture in our city goes, we shouldn't expect that limited-edition "I am Not a Plastic Bag" bag by designer what's-her-face. No hype for that in this town. The idea of limiting the bags takes away from the bigger picturemaking them less fashion-statementy and more everyday. Instead, D.C.metro area shoppers, and the rest of the Whole Foods Mid-Atlantic region, sport cute, quirky sacks that spotlight items like honey, coffee, lemons, pickles, and the clementine. The newest is an insulated banana split version that says, "Make like a banana and split." These were so popular when they hit shelves two years ago that the region sold more than 700,000 and inspired the rest of the country to create their own.
It's hard to say whether Annapolis will inspire a regional domino effect with the plastic bag ban eventually hitting the D.C. area. Maybe our city council doesn't have a plastic-hater as hateful as Ward 7 Alderman Sam Shropshire, who began his Annapolis revolution by asking his Whole Foods to stop ordering plastic bags. It listened. Sure he gets our respect, but cutting plastic altogether to use twice as much paper isn't the answer, either. Plenty of emissions are used to transport and create paper bagsand the paper isn't always biodegradable. By January, Mid-Atlantic Whole Foods stores will use only 100 percent recycled-fiber paper bags, "about as green as you can get," Kenney said. Will that be in addition to a plastic option? For now, yes, but "we'll see," Kenney said.
The fewer plastic baggies swimming around the Anacostia and Potomac rivers, the better. And whatever makes grape-flavored air fresheners more accessible is always a really good thing.
About the author: Erin Zimmer, Serious Eats's Washington, D.C., correspondent, is a just-graduated Georgetown gal following her nose about town as Washingtonian magazine's Dining intern and Best Bites blogger. She got her start as the Hoya campus paper's food columnist, and since entering "real person-hood" has ached for her dining hall's omelet station.
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21 Comments:
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.
Colorado Jim at 11:59AM on 07/26/07
How do people use these bags to actually do their weekly grocery shopping. When I go grocery shopping for my two person household, I generate like 17-0 bags a week. Do people just a dozen canvas bags? What we do is we reuse the bags by taking our lunch to work in the leftover grocery bags.
OneEyedMan at 12:03PM on 07/26/07
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.
dmorriso at 12:04PM on 07/26/07
i'd like to see grocery stores start charging for bags like they do some places in europe - it might help people to remember to bring their own (or teach them to start).
j at 12:06PM on 07/26/07
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.
elderberry44 at 12:22PM on 07/26/07
Glad to see someone from Albuquerque is on this site. We moved to ABQ recently (many years in Miami) and just adjusting to the "food world" here. I use a canvas bag when picking up a few items...thanks for the idea of keeping spare plastic in the car, will do in the future.
elaine at 12:36PM on 07/26/07
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?
purplesachi at 12:55PM on 07/26/07
The first step is reduce. Yes, you may need 20 grocery bags, but you'd be surprised how much some of them hold, and I'm sure that the grocery stores will still have plastic bags in case you need extra. You can also reuse those later on - I reuse clear ones for farmer's market goods.
Littlebluesiren at 1:13PM on 07/26/07
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
ceforrester at 1:45PM on 07/26/07
oops - elderberry - that comment wasn't directed at you. meant to direct it at One Eyed Man.
ceforrester at 1:49PM on 07/26/07
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.
alktraz at 2:05PM on 07/26/07
We use the plastic bags for our trash. If they were banned, I would be buying plastic bags instead of re-using the ones for trash. What do people who have gone to canvas use for their garbage bags? Not being critical...just asking!
Vitello Tonnato at 2:06PM on 07/26/07
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.
Colorado Jim at 2:38PM on 07/26/07
As for one eyed man I have seen the way packers at the store load plastic bags 3 or 4 items to a bag. —Colorado Jim at 2:38PM
This is true. I don't know how many times I've gone somewhere, bought one item—one item—and have had the clerk reach for a bag! Like, yeah, buddy, I really need a bag to tote home a roll of (Seventh Generation or eco-equivalent) paper towels.
Adam Kuban at 2:49PM on 07/26/07
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?
OneEyedMan at 2:52PM on 07/26/07
How much energy does it take to produce one of the reusable bags? Now canvas isn't steel or ceramic, but it does have to be grown, woven, dyed , and distributed, so I wonder what the number of break even usages is. Do people wash them? I imagine that with regular use they do get unsanitary. How long to they last with weekly use?
I remember a discussion about coffee mugs which said that you have to reuse a mug at least 350 times (every day for a year) to break even with the energy use of buying styrafoam cups:
http://support.nature.org/site/PageServer?pagename=envirotips_200704
P.S.
I was in Ikea the other day, and they now charge for plastic bags.
OneEyedMan at 3:04PM on 07/26/07
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.
dmzapp at 3:37PM on 07/26/07
I'm with Vitello Tonnato. I use my supermarket plastic bags as garbage bags, hanging from my kitchen cabinet knobs. I don't buy plastic garbage bags at all. I don't generate enough garbage in a one-person household to want garbage around long enough to fill a regular-sized bag, anyway. dmzapp, I can't compost my garbage because I live in a large, plant-less NYC apartment building with no place to use it/store it/keep it from attracting bugs.
klg19 at 4:44PM on 07/26/07
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.
ceforrester at 9:24AM on 07/27/07
I use my plastic bags for garbage too and never buy specific bags for trash. So I hope people don't start getting holier than thou with the canvas.
I'll try to request paper bags if it's an option. But sometimes you need plastic bags around, especially if you have a dog or a cat.
bluebird at 12:26PM on 07/27/07
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%!
emily20008 at 12:39PM on 07/29/07