Plastic produce bags at a market.
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At this point you probably have so many reusable bags you're wondering how to reduce, reuse and recycle them. Ironic, right?
Not as ironic as carrying a bunch of those to the farmers' market or the (health food) store and then loading them up with plastic produce bags filled with everything from salad greens to cherry tomatoes to bulk brown rice. Sure, you've mastered the art of not taking a plastic bag for apples (fill hands, awkwardly release contents onto the scale without dropping any on ground, then quickly ferry them one by one into your reusable bag as you pay and before you anger the people on line behind you). What's the point of a reusable bag filled with plastic bags?
Un-shocking newsflash: your reusable bag doesn't have to be filled with plastic bags. Yes, you can reuse those plastic bags for all sorts of things (refilling the following week with more farmers' market goods, using as a lunch sack, or even picking up dog "waste"). Even better? Not using plastic at all by buying (or making, if you're crafty) reusable produce bags. And stash one or two in every one of your reusable bigger bags so you will never be without again.
Somehow these littler guys aren't as ubiquitous as their larger brethren. But they can be found at Reusablebags.com and other sites, and they come in a variety of materials (cotton, organic cotton, mesh, recycled plastic bottle fabric, etc.). Bust them out in your farmers' market and you're likely to be flooded with questions from fellow shoppers on where to get them (trust me). This is a great thing: you can educate and reduce plastic use -- beyond your own -- as you shop.
Bonus: they're just the right size for kids to "help" with shopping at the market. A preschooler dropping produce into a large bag means bruised produce (it hits the ground with an unsettling thud). But hand a tot a small reusable produce bag and voila, no more bruises.
A crucial tip before you get started: reusable produce bags weigh more than your average plastic one. So make sure the farmer weighs your bag prior to filling it or you will be charged a buck for avoiding plastic. That would be an unjust charge for a well intentioned bag.
More on plastic bags:
Plastic Bag Facts
Keeping Reusable Bags Clean
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