Around the Sun: A Blog About Saving Money in Portland, Oregon, and beyond

Be a Bag Lady

January 12th, 2007

We grocery shop about once a week, typically bringing home several bags of groceries. This can lead to a mountain of bags in no time. One of my New Year’s resolutions is to bring my own bags, and I was happy to see the Oregonian run an article today about just that:

You can read the full article here:

http://www.oregonlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/portland_news/116777671276830.xml?oregonian?pddlg&coll=7

Bringing in your own sack is not only environmentally friendly, but grocery stores also provide small incentives such as a chance to win a gift card, 5 cents off your bill for each bag, or a donation to a local charity. To learn about the policies of several local stores, click on “Saving sacks” in the Factbox located in the upper right corner of the article.

There’s one correction to the article: I recalled that Fred Meyer also deducted 5 cents from your bill for bringing in your own paper bag. So I called the Tigard and Beaverton stores, which confirmed that all Portland area Fred Meyers should be following this policy.

I am going to keep a cloth bag in my car to help me with my resolution.

Creative uses for plastic and paper grocery bags: There are many ways to use bags you already have. The Frugal Duchess has compiled great suggestions here and here.

You can also knit a bag from strips of plastic grocery bags, like this one (pictured above):

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/cr_needle_arts/article/0,2025,DIY_13768_3059465,00.html

Recycling bags: In the Portland area, paper bags can go into curbside recycling, while grocers like Fred Meyer and Albertsons have recycling bins for plastic bags. Wherever you live, you can find out about recycling services in your area by typing in your zip code at Earth 911.

(Photo from diynetwork.com)

Entry Filed under: Groceries