Question for those who use canvas grocery bags..

[Purple*Lotus]

We just got ours the other day. When you go to the store with them, do you just bag your own groceries, or give them to the cashier and they don't mind bagging with them? It is probably a weird question, but I have never seen anyone ever use reuseable bags before. I am hoping to start a trend!

[shanetedissac]

I work at a grocery store. We just give them to the bagger.

[nascarbebe]

The first thing I do is hand them to the cashier and say "I have my own grocery bags." Every once in a while they look at me funny or they think I'm buying them but most of them are used to them now. My grocery store gives back $.05 for each grocery bag you provide. The sackers generally love them because it's easier to sack the groceries in and they hold so much more than plastic. Just make sure they don't put the stuff in plastic first AND then inside your canvas bags. DH came home like that the other day and he didn't even get the $.05 discount!

[anamama]

We have used cloth bags for as long as I can remember (my parents are super crunchy). It used to be really confusing for the cashiers/baggers, because they weren't quite sure why we wanted to use cloth bags, and sometimes they would even get grumpy! But now, I just hand the bags to the cashier or the bagger, and we get $.05 off for each bag, and the baggers like using them. There's even one teenaged bagger at our Kroger that whispers, "YESSS!" when we come through the line, he loves our cloth so much. lol He has a ponytail.....

[Caneel]

I usually do self check-out but on the occasions I do go through the line, I just hand the bags to the clerk.

[Purple*Lotus]

None of our stores here have self check, we are low tech I actually prefer to bag my own, and it helps the cashiers if they do not have a bagger and have to do it themselves. However, I only shop twice a month so I always have so many items that I putting groceries on the belt the entire time they are ringing, so I can't always bag them all myself.

[hubris]

I hand them to the checkout clerk and let him/her know ASAP that I have my own bags. Sometimes (at stores like Target) I have to explain that I would prefer for them to put my items in those bags INSTEAD of in plastic bags. LOL

Sometimes I do bag my own stuff, but usually, no. Sometimes I would prefer to bag it myself because I have a better sense of how to organize my cloth bags efficiently. Some baggers get thrown and end up putting two cans of food in a big canvas bag. Sheesh.

[SoHappy]

I toss my bags on top of the things in my cart so they're the first thing the checker takes out.

[mk12]

Sometimes I bag my own. Otherwise, I usually tell the person bagging my stuff that my Acme Workhorse bags are very strong and to fill them up as much as possible.

[jlpumkin]

I hand them to the cashier when she asks if I want paper or plastic. I wish we had a $.05 reward for using them. I have 2 kinds - some grocery style (just canvas but shaped like a paper bag w/ handles) and some sack ones. A bagger has told me that they hate those bc they need someone else to hold them to fill faster. :

[jenerationx]

I give them to the cashier before they start scanning my stuff.

[Molck]

At the co-op where I shop, everyone bags their own groceries. When I go to whole foods, I start the bagging myself but someone usually comes and takes over-- feels a little weird to me. At the regular grocery store, I rarely buy more than one or two things at a time, so I just say, "I don't need a bag" and grab them from the conveyor belt before they can stick them in the plastic bags.

[hellyaellen]

Originally Posted by hubris

I hand them to the checkout clerk and let him/her know ASAP that I have my own bags. Sometimes (at stores like Target) I have to explain that I would prefer for them to put my items in those bags INSTEAD of in plastic bags. LOL

Sometimes I do bag my own stuff, but usually, no. Sometimes I would prefer to bag it myself because I have a better sense of how to organize my cloth bags efficiently. Some baggers get thrown and end up putting two cans of food in a big canvas bag. Sheesh.

:

[AoifesMom]

I just put them on the belt before my purchases. Usually the baggers are cool with it, the exception is Target where I usually have to practically beg them not to give me a bag. :

[Delta]

he exception is Target where I usually have to practically beg them not to give me a bag.

I took my canvas bag (from my local grocery who knows how to use them) into Target and handed it to the person at checkout. He immediately tried to ring it up. I explained that it was mine and for the things I was purchasing and he says, "Oh! I see!" So I'm paying and whatnot and as I am leaving I realized he'd bagged my stuff in a plastic bag and was then trying to put the plastic bag into the canvas one.

[LilMama23]

I just hand them to the cashier/bagger before they start ringing up my stuff and say, "I have my own bags." Usually they look at me a little funny, but I haven't had any problems.

When we lived in Arizona, they had self-checkout, which was nice - I could bag my own there.

[babyj]

I put mine on the conveyor belt before the first groceries or on top of the first stuff. I usually also say "those are my bags". I also tell the bagger (if there is one) "just stuff em, I dont' care if they're heavy". If it looks like I'm about to be given a plastic bag I'll say "I can fit that in somewhere, I'm trying to minimize bags". I'm in CA so it's reasonably normal to have your own bags.

bj

[beka1977]

Usually the bagger bags for me. However my son likes to ride in the cart sitting on the bags to cushion his bum. Sometimes when I only have one or two bags (and not very many groceries) he refuses to give up the bag. Then I just tell them to load the stuff loose into the cart and I bag it when I get to the car and he is out of the cart.

[lovesdaffodils]

When I do a big shopping trip, I just toss the bags up on the conveyor and let the cashier and/or bagger know. A lot of the baggers recognize me, and if I forget my bags, they'll ask about it. For smaller trips, I use self check-out usually.

[jauncourt]

We don't use canvas, we have polypropylene tarp cloth bags, and three different sizes of insulated bags. *

In any case, I have had SUPER-positive reactions pretty much everywhere, and I usually dive right in and bag my own before the checker has to lift a finger. Last time we were at Trader Joe's, the checker said "Wow! You're HIRED!" and even the mainstream grocers love them.

MAura

* Our whole family is allergic to mold and high humidity is not kind to canvas - I have had bad experiences with canvas going moldy on me twice, once on the North Coast of Cali and once in Texas. Perhaps if we lived in the desert I'd feel safe with it, but I do not. I like breathing too much!