When I find a solution to an annoying problem I tend to share it.

As mentioned in earlier blogs, I HATE the amount of plastic bags that accumulate in our pantry. This leads to cursing in the checkout line when I don't have a bag on hand and only have a few items but still need to grab a plastic bag for them. If I could actually plan ahead, I would always have a plastic bags from the cupboard in my purse or pocket, but in reality that just doesn't happen (and plastic bags don't fold up as nicely as I'd like to fit into my purse).

So to save the world a bit (and to make some more space in my cupboard) I did a bit of snowy day online shopping this Sunday for a small collapsable bag that I can keep in my purse. In my search I came across this site, www.reusablebags.com, which has a really good selection of reusable bags that seems to fit any need.

For my purse, I found this bag (which my husband keeps making fun of me about because I made him watch the bag video). It looks like it will be perfect as it easily goes right into its attached pouch (no folding origami needed), it's super small and can hold up to 25 lbs (or my child's weight) in food: Acme Bags - Workhorse Model

Also, now that Wal-Mart and Target have jumped on the reusable shopping bag bandwagon, they are doing so with bags that won't hold up to any significant weight of groceries (Trust me, I had one of these and it busted right away). And Whole Foods sells good reusable bags, but they are the larger variety and don't fit my purse specifications as outlined above.

Also, when I go to the grocery store, the baggers seem to insist on sending me home with eight shopping bags when all I would really need is 2 or 3 to get my haul from the car to the garage. And I really don't like the plastic produce bags as they just get thrown away at home anyway (usually full of rotting lettuce), so I'm thinking of getting this set, which looks like it will make my weekly Pick n Save haul much easier: ACME Earth Tote - Shopping Bag Set

They also have great solutions from Reisenthel, a German company who makes the market basket I picked up at Alterra Coffee on Prospect on Earth Day three years ago and has been a Jazz in the Park staple ever since: http://www.reusablebags.com/store/advanced_search_result.php?search_in_description=1&keywords=Reisenthel

Happy shopping!