I'm Chia Wald and this is my blog. Here is where I share my thoughts and my art. Sometimes it is good, sometimes it isn't. That's life... and that's me. 
I purchased several reusable shopping bags way back in the 80’s and used them exclusively for several years. Some time after we moved to the Phoenix area plastic bags started to sneak back into my shopping routine. I think it was due to the fact that for the first time in my life I didn’t have to plan a weekly trip of driving 30 minutes to a grocery store. Around here they seem to be on every corner and it is just so easy to make a quick run for just a few items. Sometimes it seemed excessive to bring out the canvas for just one or two items and many times the shopping trips were unplanned events while I was out without my bags. Whatever the reason I became a plastic bag user. I didn’t realize just how many bags I was consuming until my friend’s granddaughter asked us to save them for a school recycling project. As they started to pile up in the garage I was coming face to face with just how big of a problem they are.
Shortly before Christmas I made a vow to return to my greener shopping habits. I dug through the closets in search of wayward shopping bags that had found new uses away from the food chain. It was time to deal with the clutter inside the bags and put them back into the service they were designed for!
My son-in-law just stumbled me this site about plastic bags and how many cities are now outlawing their use. Whole Foods has taken a lead in this revolution by announcing it will no longer offer plastic bags. They will provide recycled paper bags when needed but they are going all out to encourage shoppers to bring their own bags, baskets, or whatever to carry their purchases home.
Whole Foods and many other grocery stores now sell reusable bags at very reasonable prices. If you would rather make your own bags you might be interested in the following tutorials that I found online.
HOW TO SEW A CLOTH SHOPPING BAG
Stumble it!
5 responses so far ↓
1 Shelly // Feb 7, 2008 at 10:06 am
3 cheers for you, Chia! It’s not the most convenient way, but it’s the best.
Shelly
2 Shannon // Feb 7, 2008 at 10:45 am
This is great! I need to make a few bags. I am thinking of also making some very lightweight drawstring bags (net bags!) for produce… those little plastic bags are wasteful, too.
3 Sharon // Feb 7, 2008 at 6:53 pm
I tried making a tote bag a few times and gave up. My favorite bag is the cute polar bar one on http://totebags.filetap.com
4 Suzanne // Feb 7, 2008 at 7:35 pm
Yeah for you Chia. I keep looking at these kind of bags in the stores. I have always hated the plastic bags and have always asked for paper. You should see the looks I get when I tell them I want paper.
5 Mockingbird Hill // Feb 8, 2008 at 7:38 am
Seems like everyone in this area is going grren, too! I often hear people saying that “I can’t make a difference”…it’s the little things that get it all started.
Thanks for putting this out there to remind everyone…now go and do the right thing!
Cassie
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