Do you sometimes forget to bring your reusable bags to the store? Or maybe you have them in your car, ready and waiting, but can’t seem to get into the habit of grabbing them before you go in? It’s happened to us too. In honor of International Plastic Bag Free Day this Sunday, here are some helpful tips for remembering your reusable bags:
Keep your bags on a hook near your front door so you’ll see them.
Purchase a bag that’s small enough to hook onto your keychain so you’ll always have it with you.
Keep one set of bags in the trunk of your car and one in your house—one is for walking and one is for driving shopping trips. (Just don’t forget to put your car set back in the car.)
Purchase (or make your own) bag that you can roll up and store in your purse.
Get a bag that’s so cool/fun/wonderful you’ll want to take it everywhere.
Put a big reminder sign on the inside of your front door (or on a bulletin board near the door). “Remember Your Bags!”
Leave at least one bag on the passenger seat of your car as a visual reminder.
When you get to the store and get your cart, make sure you have a bag to put into it. If you forgot, go back and get it. Next time, you’ll be more likely to remember!
Write “take bags” at the top of your shopping list.
You can even tell the clerk, “No bag, thanks!” if you have just a few items. It might seem strange at first, but once you get used to it, you may decide to make every day a Plastic Bag Free day!
Plastic bags can take hundreds of years to degrade, releasing particles of toxic chemicals into our soil and water, polluting our planet and harming living organisms.
How about it? Will you join us in opting for reusable bags this Sunday? How about all next week? The entire month of July? Who’s in with us? We’d love to hear from you! Just leave us a comment below.Resources:
Time and Date: International Plastic Bag Free Day
IPEN: Plastic Bag-Free Day
Bag-Free World
Earth’s Friends: Tips to Reduce the Use of Plastic Bags
Apartment Therapy: Ways to Remember Your Reusable Tote
WikiHow: How to Remember to Take Bags With You to the Store
I love my bags, I do have one in my purse as well as several in the trunk of my car and my Norwex grocery bags hang by the side door, so I don’t forget. At first I would forget when I was at a non-grocery store, that I had my bag in my purse, but now I feel weird if I don’t use it.
I need to do a better job of remembering my bags. I should do what my Mom does! She has a bag of bags in her car and then when she is done putting away her groceries, she immediately takes them back out to the car… Good on Mom 🙂
Sometimes when I forget to take my bags into the grocery store etc, I have cashier to scan the item and hand it back to me and I put it in another buggy then roll my buggy to the car and put my items in my bags. Killing two birds with one stone so to speak. Saving the earth from plastic bags and getting in a little more activity by having to handle my groceries etc more. Works for me. I know people behind me might think I’m strange but I don’t care.
Thanks, Tonya. We love your spunk! And others may find it strange for now, but at least you’re getting them to think . . . and they might eventually even follow suit. Thanks for setting that great example!
Absolutely agree with Tonya!! I do this all of the time if I’ve forgotten my bags in the van. We don’t even use the boxes from Aldi anymore, just leave everything in the cart and put it in the bags when we get out there.
My brother-in-law says I’m like Inspector Gadget when I pull tiny folded reusable bags out of my purse or pocket! I love washable reusable bags that fit anywhere!
We also use totes for our groceries – I like this much better than bags since it is easier to unpack and you can get a ton of groceries into one tote! In Ontario we have to pay for plastic bags at most stores which discourages their use overall I believe.
This was the article I needed. I can never remember to put the bags back in the car. I have lots of them too. I printed out the list and am keeping it on the inside of the front door. Thanks!
This was helpful!! I always forget my bags! Great reminder ideas!!
Such a great idea Tonya! Definitely using this idea from now on!
The grocery bags can tie into cleaver little knots. They also store a bit easier too. I also have a reward system for myself if I remember bags. I can buy a treat. I like the incentive my stores also give. One gives a nickel credit. Once it becomes a game to me, I’m in it to win it! >^,,^<
Thank you! I hope to get better about remembering my bags, and sending them with my husband when he goes to the store for our family. 🙂
I have a box/bag that acts like a small handled basket. My favorite cashier always comments on it when I go to the store without it. She loves that bag as much as I do. Next step is to take my bags to non-food stores. We use the ones my husband brings home as trash bags for the bathrooms and kitty litter clean up. The bags we do not use for those purposes like the ones found in shipping boxes and that are torn are recycled at the store.
I used to forget my reusable bags all the time, even though I kept them in the car. Now I have more ways to help myself remember. Thank you! The more I remember to do it, the more it becomes part of my routine. I look forward to the day when it becomes so habitual I won’t even have to consciously think about it!
I have mine in my car door and rarely do I forget to grab them.
LOL. We are no longer allowed free bags at stores and must bring our own bags. These tips are helpful (as I end up not finishing my shopping ‘cuz I don’t want to spend 10¢ to buy a bag when I have plenty of them at home!).
I used to have my bags buried under my groceries in the cart. Now I drape them over the end when I first get in the store. At check out, they are right there so I can put them up first for bagging!! It takes a few tries to remember, but then it becomes 2nd nature!
Great idea! Thanks for sharing, Loretta!
I refuse to use a bag if I forget to take one into the store it takes me more than one trip sometimes but after working at a land fill one summer just to see what really goes on there I refuse to use the plastic bags unless it is absolutely necessary.
Sometimes I wait till I’m checking out to get my bag and I just take all the items I bought and go to my car with them in the cart and then unload them into my bag that I forgot to take in.
It takes 21 days to become a habit. I so rarely have a plastic bag in my house that when I need one (for garbage as an example) I can’t find one!
I love these tips. I need to be better about bringing my reusable bags with me every time I shop, and not just to the grocery store either.
I love my bags and keep them in my car. My area to improve is bringing them to all stores. Not just when I go grocery shopping.
GREAT tips, I am always forgetting my bags in the car! I’ll be putting “take bags” at the top of my shopping list from now on!
This week at the grocery store I realized I forgot my reusable produce bags. The cashier commented on my ‘runaway lemons’ but as we talked, she agreed that the convenience of plastic bags were endangering our ocean life. I keep my reusable bags in the car and use them regularly. A small price to pay of doing without for a few seconds of convenience…
Leaving them on a hook is a great idea!
Very Helpful and Informative post.