I've been on the same anti-plastic kick!! I found out that my CSA will take my clean, used plastic bags.
I used to use them as Buddy Poop Bags, but then I realized that they were just going to the landfill, with Buddy's poop and that's pretty nasty.
That "Are We Turning Into Plastic?" article was one of the most depressing things I've ever read.
For my part, I picked up a couple reusable bags from Trader Joe's and took a bunch of reusable bags that were handed out on Earth Day at my office building. I use them everywhere, so much so that our supply of plastic bags has dwindled to almost nothing.
A great replacement for keeping baked goods fresh is to wrap them in a clean dish towel - I learned this from our Danish son several years ago, and now all our fresh-baked cakes and breads stay fine that way for several days. For cookies, a cookie tin is best, obviously.
I have some LARGE green tyvek bags that I got at the Scrap Box many years ago. I use them on market day. So if you see the woman with the stylish (not!) neon green bags, that's me. Also, I store up 'cleanish' plastic produce bags throughout the year (apple bags, bread bags, etc), rolling them around a paper towel roll. Then during CSA season, I use those to bag my veggies as needed. Because in my experience, some of the veggies just do better in my fridge if they're in plastic.
Hey Patti - I've wondered about that. Seems like there should be something useful to do with all those "nutrients."
Sarah - I agree on the depressingness quotient of that article. I can't stop thinking about it. I guess the good thing about it has been that it's motivated us to get off our bums and start carrying re-usable bags in the car. Now when we carry stuff out of the store with no bag sometimes (if there's little enough that we can carry), we get weird looks but feel great that we're not bringing another #$%! bag home. Next step is to put tupperware in the car for take-home food at restaurants. Not that we've been to a restaurant lately....too many greens.
Jen - why do the Europeans seem so much smarter than us on this stuff?
Tricia - I love your idea about rolling the bags around a paper towel tube. Pretty ingenious. All of our bags are stuffed under the kitchen sink in a huge tangle. I'm going to get organized like you.
Kim
Also, at the market today (for the first time?) Frog Holler Organic Farm has re-usable cloth bags for their most excellent salad greens. Photos coming soon.
Kim
I love Chico bags the best - they are the only bags I don't forget in my trunk. Some good bags for wrapping lunch things are Waxtex wax paper bags. Hillers is the only place I can find them in this town!
Hi MK - Luckily, we have about a thousand cloth bags in every size. But I need to check out those Chico bags. I think Arbor Farms has the Waxtex bags too.
Kim
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