Choose Your Bags Wisely

Anyone who has been to the grocery store on a weekend knows how ridiculously crowded it can be and therefore can realize how many paper and plastic bags are used to haul shoppers' food home.

Shoppers usually get to make a simple grocery bag choice: paper or plastic? But PCC Natural Markets are making that choice a thing of the past by completely discontinuing use of plastic shopping bags.

PCC's move seems like a bold one. Can you imagine giants like Safeway or QFC going cold turkey off of plastic bags like that? I wouldn't really notice because I never use plastic anyway, but there might be some die-hard plastic fans out there who wouldn't be happy.

PCC is offering reusable bags at cost ($4.61 for a cotton canvas tote; a mere $0.73 for a polypropylene bag) to wean customers off of plastic bags and encourage them to go even greener - that is, to not use paper shopping bags, either.

Visit goodshunt.com to find great info about why reusable bags are the greenest options for shoppers, as well as a vast selection of - you guessed it! - reusable bags for your groceries.

My favorites are the b. happybags - so cute, so chic! Who can resist? Not only does this company offer cute bags, but they also make a pretty convincing argument to use them:

Our goal in producing these bags is to appeal to the people that think you have to don your Birkenstocks to make a wise post consumer decision. Not only does it save a tree or a barrel of oil -- it makes your shopping trip a hell of a lot easier. And -- it's much more fun to carry home your cantaloupes in a zebra print bag.

Anyone who is super inspired to spread awareness about the importance of reusable bags should also check out the awesome Activist Kit on ReusableBags.com. For just $3.00, you get two buttons, 25 stickers and an organic t-shirt - all of which proclaim: "PLASTIC BAGS BLOW; BYOB - bring your own bag."

I would love to see someone strolling through Safeway decked out in activist gear and toting some seriously cute reusable bags. Will it be you?