The problem of finding reusable shopping bags

A couple weeks ago, I finally came around to the idea that I ought to use some reusable shopping bags for groceries and such. Part of it is the environmental issues everyone already knows about– a zillion plastic and/or paper bags filling up landfills, etc., etc., etc. But part of it is just to help declutter the house a bit and ditch all the plastic bags that get stuffed under the sink or paper bags in the garage or whatever.

But here’s the thing: Whole Foods was selling lovely canvas bags, but for eight bucks each, and it is essentially an advertisement for Whole Foods. So I went seeking alternatives, and surprisingly, I pretty much struck out. I tried places like Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, other grocery stores, a hardware store, etc. Nothing. Maybe I just didn’t look hard enough, but if places like the Food (W)hole want people to use reusable bags, they need to price them better.

Anyway, the solution I came up with was Ikea: I bought two of their giant and reusable bags for 59 cents apiece. They are gigantic, made out of a durable plastic, and the roll/fold up into a small-ish ball. I had shopping success with them yesterday; we’ll see how it goes from here.