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A 2020 law banning plastic bags in Vermont has nearly eliminated their use in the state
(www.burlingtonfreepress.com)
this post was submitted on 25 Jun 2025
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I just wish more places put handles on the paper bags.
I don't mind a paper bag, but I hate having to, like, roll the top to carry it. Just give me some handles. Even a reinforced hole cut in the bag. Anything.
Would it be feasible to bring your own bags? I picked up a cheap 10 pack of fabric bags and they are sturdy enough I can usually fit a week's worth of groceries in two or three of them
I mean, feasible in an objective sense? Yes. I don't want to though, lol. I really like the convenience of bags at the till.
Very much a first world problem though, I'm aware.
If I could remember to put reusable bags in my car, I would. I'd bring them into the store if I remembered too...
Throw a bunch in the car and leave them in there.
Another thing is maybe I'm in the minority or something, but if you have an attached garage I don't understand why you need bags at the store in the first place. You drop the shit in the cart, scan it, pay, put it back in the cart and then put it from the cart into your car trunk. Then you can bag it or box it up at home to carry it from the trunk.
Not sure why that's necessary for the process. Sometimes I do what you said with the things I buy, but I'm a standard poor living in an apartment. I gotta park my car outdoors, like a filthy animal, but I still do it.
Though I do find it easier to bag while putting things into the car, rather than when taking it out. I've already got to lug everything in and put it all away, so it's nice to have one fewer chore to do when I get home.
Leave more bags then you'll possibly need in there or leave a book bag in your car. Eventually you won't be able to go back. If you have one do most of your shopping at an Aldi or Lidi. Plastic grocery bags take up more space than you realize until you go without.
Sadly, having more reusable bags than you need can result in producing even more single-use plastic. From the article New Jersey Bag Ban Followed By Increased Use Of Plastic:
Though I would like to note that New Jersey made the stupid decision to not only ban plastic bags, but to ban paper bags too. It's a move I can't understand, except to assume that there's some corrupt lobbying behind such a stupid decision. If the point is to be environmentally friendly, it makes much more sense to use a renewable source like paper.
Reusable bags. Bonus that you can find something that checks all your boxes and its all yours. Paper bags should be last resort and they should charge 10c to discourage their use.
I'd happily pay $1/paper bag with handles, just for the convenience. That's about what it's worth to me.
I'm absentminded as all hell, and I'm not gonna remember to bring an armful of bags into the grocery store with me. And then, if I'm not using a cart, I gotta carry them around? Nah.
I mean, it's a super first world problem, and not a big deal at all in the grand scheme of things. But in all honesty I'd rather just pay $1/paper bag than have to deal with it.
Damn, that hurts me to read haha. Like, I get the absent mindedness thing, but it’s a ridiculously easy step that if all 330 million people in the US (I assume that is also where you are from, sorry if I’m wrong) were to stop then it would actually have a tangible effect on resource consumption. Obviously that isn’t going to solve all of our problems, but the whole idea of ‘whatever, this is slightly more convenient’ should instead be ‘eh, it’s not that much of a hassle.’ I think that’s fully the fault of 100 years of that mindset being pushed down our throats in the form of CONSUME, but we’ve got to break free of it if there’s ever going to be a chance.
I'd be really interested to see a quantitative analysis of how much difference it would make if all 330mil of us swapped to renewable bags.
My gut is that paper bags are pretty clean overall, and that grocery bags are a tiny fraction of paper usage in the US. But I'd be really interested to be proven wrong.
My quick search keeps popping up the statistic of 14 million trees for 10 billion paper bags used annually in the US, but in 1999 so I’m sure that is higher. You’ve also got to consider the high energy usage and large environmental concerns of paper mills. I don’t know if you’ve ever been near a paper mill, but they’re known for their air pollution, they make entire towns stink.
This stat taken from http://www.forestecologynetwork.org/climate_change/plastic_or_paper.html
ENERGY TO PRODUCE BAG ORIGINALLY (BTUs) Safeway Plastic Bags: 594 BTUs Safeway Paper Bags: 2511 BTUs (Source: 1989 Plastic Recycling Directory, Society of Plastics Industry.)
I do think the BTUs portion is less concerning in the greater context. Both 600 and 2500 are negligible compared to, say, my daily commute, or a single plane trip, or basically any other activity that requires energy.
But the first part is kinda interesting. Doing some super sloppy back of the napkin math, I think that makes paper shopping bags about 6.5% of all paper products made in the US. Paper products account for around 50% of all wood products in the US, so call it just over 3% of total wood use (which may have gone up some due to increased prevalence of paper lately.)
Which isn't nothing for sure. I would have guessed lower. I do think it may be overstating it to say we'd see a huge shift if everyone started using reusable bags overnight. A 3% drop in timber harvesting would be good, but not world changing I would think. But not insignificant either.
I dunno not being willing to even carry bags, things that are literally made for carrying, kinda seems like a you problem rather than a first world problem. Like there's the regular biases toward convenience we all have and there's Jesus fucking Christ how are you this incapable of tolerating the most minor of tasks.
You know how you handle the onerous task of carrying a bag while shopping? You put the bags in the basket with everything else, put the food in the bags themselves, or just loop the handle over your shoulder.
I think you're overstating my position. It's not that I'm "not willing to carry bags." It's that I've weighed the options and decided that the provided disposable bags are more convenient, so I'm just gonna do that. I'm unconvinced that switching would do much beyond slightly inconvenience me.
And you say it's just a "me problem," but a quick and unverified Google search says that 70% of people in the US don't use reusable bags (and 57% worldwide). So it seems like it's not so much a "me problem" as a "literal majority of the world" problem. Though I'm sure it probably felt good to attack me personally, as that gives you someone to lash out at.
As someone who frequently shops on their bike, lack of handles on paper bags can be the difference between me being able to bring things home or not. I can hang a plastic bag off of the handle bars or over my shoulder if I need to. A paper bag without handles is going to leave me pretty screwed if I don't currently have panniers with me.
Rack and some bungee used to be my way to do it.
Hated it every time.
I have never in my life found a paper bag with handles that will hold groceries. I'd need easily twice as many to hold all my groceries vs my reusable ones.
Have you ever shopped at a Trader Joes? Those paper bags are by far the best paper bags that I've ever used, and can carry about as much as my reusable ones.