by Texas Homesteader ~
*contains affiliate link
I don’t typically use plastic produce bags. I mean, my veggies can usually play nice without being separated from each other by plastic. 🙂
But sometimes with bulk buying it’s just easier for the cashier to have like items all bundled together. So if I buy 16 roma tomatoes to make Pico de Gallo for a family dinner, bundling them all together for the cashier just makes sense.
But oh how I hated to use that plastic bag. I mean, yeah, I’ll make sure it gets reused somehow when I get home. But I’m trying to SHUN plastic aren’t I?
(Note: Some links in this post are for further information from earlier posts I’ve written. But links preceded with * are affiliate links. If you click them and buy something (almost anything, not just the item noted) I could receive a small purchase. But the price you pay will NOT change. It’s an easy way to support this blog without anything coming out of your pocket. So click often! Thank you!)
So years ago I started using see-through fabric reusable produce bags. You can easily find reusable produce bags online *Amazon. (I think I got mine at a Mother Earth News Fair.)
When Bundling Produce Makes Sense
When I need to buy a bundle of tomatoes or a pound of pinto beans in bulk, I have a see-through yet reusable bag to use. An added benefit is that it often starts an eco conversation with other shoppers or the cashier.
Awareness is key in all of us reducing our single-use plastic landfill-bound trash!
Convenience At The Farmer’s Market
It’s also a handy reusable bag to take with you to the Farmer’s Market. These bags fold easily and you can tuck them into your pocket until you make your purchase.
The vendors at the Farmer’s Market love that they can keep their packaging for another purchase. PLUS you don’t have to schlep your purchase home with something that you’ll need to figure out how dispose of it. Win/win!
I love these little see-through reusable produce bags. We all want to see your Plastic-Free win! I mean, we can all encourage each other, right?
Did you remember to bring your reusable shopping bag & shun the single-use plastic one? Or did you figure out a plastic-free way to store your leftovers? Did you convince a company to sell you a product with no added plastic?
Good for you!
Here’s your opportunity to crow about it! Share your stories in the comments below.
~TxH~
This post categorized in 
Other Low-Waste Stories
- Buying Products Used: Good For Your Budget & The Environment
- Closing The Loop In Charitable Giving
- Our Low-Waste Coffee
- No-Waste Citrus Juice For Recipes
- Don’t Waste Those Onion Trimmings
- Ditch The Plastic – Using Glass In The Refrigerator
- 5 Zero-Waste Products We Love
- Food Waste in America: What Do Those Dates Mean?
- Zero-Waste Hygiene – Using A Safety Razor
- Eliminate Plastic Produce Bags
Many years ago when they were free at the grocery store I saved the large brown paper bags, I triple bagged them and over the years I have applied tape to the corners and some of the edges of them. I saved the plastic produce bags and if need be I rinse them out and hang them to dry from a ceramic goose head that hangs on one of the cupboards near the sink, I saved plastic grocery handle bags and there is often a use for one. One of these days I’ll run out of them. I have some little mesh drawstring bags that I can use. I have to watch myself because I want to lecture people at the grocery store. Of course I also want to lecture mothers yammering on cell phones while a small child sits in the grocery cart. I have to remind myself that I can’t fix everything and sometimes minding ones own business is the better part of valor or at least common sense.
Isn’t that funny Candace, I have to bite my tongue at the grocery store too. But then I remember I wasn’t always eco-aware myself. I’ve spent my fair share of grocery shopping allowing cashiers to pile things in many plastic bags with most of those bags heading straight to the landfill as soon as I unloaded them amongst the chaos of 2 littles darting around asking for a snack while I unloaded groceries. I have to make myself remember that we’re all in a different place along this path. Some have just started their journey, just as I had so many years ago. It makes it just a wee bit easier to take a deep breath & walk away. Now about the unattentive parents… LOL ~TxH~
Totally Understand :}
I don’t use bags like this but I do use those ‘mesh’ / net bags.
Sorry Tammy, I don’t do facebook either. It’s something that I just never gotten in to.
Well….fuddle. I’m not on Facebook anymore. I gave it up several months ago. At least I know what to look for on Amazon. Thanks!
Awwww, Bummer! Sorry Evelyn! ~TxH~