Over the past few months, I have noticed that some shoppers at Meijer’s (regional grocery chain) are using reusable shopping bags instead of the plastic ones. These shopping bags are made of a heavy duty woven synthetic material with two handles and a special flap for attaching to the Meijer’s check out bag holder.

At a dollar a piece, I considered them to be a better alternative to the regular plastic bags that Meijer’s uses. So, I bought six of them.

These bags actually hold more that the plastic bags and are much stronger. Plus, they have a couple of side straps for bottles. All and all, they are a very good idea.

However, there is one major problem with these bags and that would be the owner. You see, while I bought the bags with the intend of going green, they are useless if I forget to take them with me. So, I have taken to carrying them in the trunk of my car. At least, if they are in the trunk of my car, they stand a good chance of making it on to the Meijer’s property.

Now, I am batting about .500 on actually using the bags. Once, while I was in the check out, I remembered that the bags were in the car. So, I excused my self to my fellow shoppers and went out to grab my bags.

Unfortunately, the other day, I was too far along in the checkout process to leave the line. So, in an effort to save face, I requested paper. (we use paper bags for recycling)

While I may not have used my new heavy duty bags, at least I wasn’t using those plastic ones.