Meijer is getting smart. They’re now selling reusable shopping bags at $.99 each. Not only are they attractive — a nice, bright blue with a green leaf — they’re well designed. They hold your 2-litres upright, are very sturdy and have a pocket in the front. I bought three my last visit and will probably buy a few more. The plastic bags, imho, are a nuisance. They’re good for holding a gallon of milk (in case it leaks) but they multiply like rabbits in the trash.
I do use the plastic bags to line small trash cans around the house, and I pile them up, too, and take them to the recycling box at either Walmart or Kroger or wherever one is available from time to time. They ARE a nuisance for carrying groceries, though. - I like the paper bags with handles that Wild Oats will put groceries in if you ask (or at least did). - I saw some of those reusable 99 cent bags at Kroger, but I didn’t buy any because I shop at other grocery stores besides Kroger and those had the Kroger name and logo on them. - I read somewhere that they also accept the plastic newspaper sleeves and plastic dry cleaning bags in the Kroger recycling boxes, but don’t know for sure.
I try to recycle to some degree. We have an organic garden and have composted for 22 years. We save up newspapers for auctioneer friends who use them at their auction house for people to wrap their purchases and we shred paper in the office and use it for mulch. (It piles up so bad I’m thinking about asking the local animal shelter if they want it for bedding.) I can’t get my husband to fool with recycling aluminum cans and glass, so I guess it’s good we don’t have too much of that kind of stuff in our garbage.