How do you feel about being charged for bags at the various stores?

I don't, I have a canvas bag I've been using for awhile. When it breaks I'll get another one. Plus I go a few times a week, less bags to to carry and good exercise since I live just a few blocks away.
 
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I've used reusable bags for years. I have the heavy cloth bags from Trader Joes for most things. My favorite size to use for heavy items are the wine bags after I took the dividers that held the bottles apart. I kept a few to put olive oil bottles in when I buy them. They fit perfectly into the foldable stand up bags from Trader Joes. The standup bags keep my anything I buy from rolling around the back of SUV.

I don't like plastic bags for groceries because they rip so easy. However, the only time I think they come in handy is when I buy meat so it can catch any blood that would leak in my reusable bags.
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Fresh meat can leak juices containing harmful bacteria like Salmonella, E. coli, or Listeria. If these juices soak into a cloth bag, the porous fabric can harbor bacteria.

l'd use dedicated cloth bags for raw meat to avoid cross-contamination with produce or ready-to-eat foods.
Don’t use the same bag for meat and vegetables without thorough cleaning.

Reusable plastic or vinyl-lined bags are easier to wipe down and sanitize than cloth, making them a safer option for raw meat.
 
Any cloth bag should be washed periodically to keep clean. A bag with blood would be washed before it was ever used again.

I don't care for vinyl-lined bags because I feel you can't get the seam crevices fully clean with any type of leaking food liquids that would go into them.

That's why I put fresh meats in plastic grocery bags, or veggie bags, first. Both Aldi & Walmart have rolls of food baggies by the fresh meats.
 
One store I go to doesn't have plastic bags at all (except for produce) and I use reusable bags there. The other store has plastic bags for 5 cents, I buy maybe 6 bags a week from there to carry a few groceries, then I use the plastic bags for cleaning kitty litter and for small trash cans (like bathroom trash).

I like getting the plastic bags from the store because otherwise I buy a roll of plastic bags and those are so frustratingly hard to open it drives me nuts.
 
When I was growing up, people typically used paper bags, newspaper, or directly disposed of trash in galvanized metal cans. We had no plastic bags. Few if any communities still manage waste in that manner.

Modern day trash collection services require that trash be in plastic bags before placing in provided containers to protect the containers and workers from contamination, and keep loose garbage from scattering across streets and lawns. The majority of this collected trash is taken to a landfill, where it is buried and compacted, which perpetuates plastic waste by hindering decomposition and creating a persistent source of environmental pollution.
 
None of the stores I frequent charge for bags except for Aldi, Costco, and GFS. All do provide some empty boxes to use.
Some like to box/bag their groceries in store. I leave my things in the cart and box it in the back of my minivan.
I do have some bags in the back but I would never remember to take them in the store. I am careful if I do use them.
Only canned and boxed things. Bags can be unsanitary.
I also have a couple laundry baskets to coral stuff in when in plastic bags. And to transport things into the house.

I reuse the plastic bags in my small trash cans. Place an upside down command hook on each side and loop the handles over it.
 
I would rather they give you the option to buy at the time of purchase, or bring your own. There is no free lunch. If the market says they don't charge for them, they are lying. It's just hidden in the cost of groceries, and everybody pays for them. Plastic is polluting our environment, our waterways, oceans, and ultimately us. We would all be better off using degradable paper. IMO.
 
Californians voted in favor of charging for single-use bags nine years ago and have paid 10¢ or more for single-use bags ever since. It took a while for us to remember to bring in bags, but isn't a big deal anymore.

A surprising number of people buy bags @ 10¢ whenever they shop, but many bring their own or (like me) just stack our groceries back in the shopping cart. When I get to my car I sort my purchases into the laundry baskets or cooler in my SUV's cargo area. I bring the baskets in the house, put everything away, and put the baskets back in the car. No biggie.
Flarbalard said:
One of the stores in our area has stopped providing twist ties for the bags, that's kind of annoying.
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Since not all stores provide twist ties, I carry some in my purse. Again, no biggie.

One of the reasons in favor of moving from free single use bags to paid bags was to cut down on litter. I must say, there are dramatically fewer plastic bags scattered along the sides of streets and freeways than before the law was passed. .

p.s. I encountered grocery bag fees when visiting my sister in Toronto in 2009. She carried bags with her with no drama, so when it came up in California I already knew what to expect.
 
MACKTEXAS said:
When I was growing up, people typically used paper bags, newspaper, or directly disposed of trash in galvanized metal cans. We had no plastic bags. Few if any communities still manage waste in that manner.

Modern day trash collection services require that trash be in plastic bags before placing in provided containers to protect the containers and workers from contamination, and keep loose garbage from scattering across streets and lawns. The majority of this collected trash is taken to a landfill, where it is buried and compacted, which perpetuates plastic waste by hindering decomposition and creating a persistent source of environmental pollution.
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I tried for a time tossing trash directly into my trash bin because I don't like using plastic bags, after a few weeks I got a notice from my trash company I had to use a bag or they would stop collecting my trash, which I didn't understand because not once was trash spilled out of the bin. So I retaileated by using a bag but not a bin, so now the driver has to get out of his truck to pick up the bag, I thought I would get another warning but it's been several years so think they just accepted it.
 
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