Don’t hate me because I’m using cloth grocery bags
A blog friend and colleague of mine recently shared her annoyance for the grocery baggers who shoot out the dirtiest of looks when you pull out your own cloth grocery bags. As she said in her original twitter comment:
Dear grocery store baggers: Please stop looking so sullen when I pull out my reusable bags. They save your store money.
And of course, I had to chuckle and completely agree because almost every time (save when I bring my Olive Smart bags for some reason) I pull out my own tote bags one of the following happens:
a) Huge sigh from the bagger
b) Knowing looks between the cashier and the bagger
c) The slowest bag packing ever known to woman or man, not to be matched by me having to tell them that they can fit a solid 10 more items in that bag before they try to put it back in my cart.
Seriously, what makes them so miserable?
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I realize that they’re unable to just stuff a box of cereal and a gallon of milk in their bag before they whip it into your cart, but in the long scheme of things, I’ve yet to understand what great difficulty it causes them that they would have such a negative reaction.
Of course, I used to roll my eyes at my mom when she would whip out her own grocery bag back when I was a kid, but that was just because she was my mom and it was terribly uncool to bring your own bag. Sort of like bringing your own lunch to school, I guess.
But now? C’mon. There’s no excuse to hate.
[...] I don’t get it. Why is it so awful to use my reusable bags? I put them up front so they are there right from the start, I don’t nitpick the way they are packed, I don’t have certain colored bags for certain items. Apparently, I’m not alone in this either. [...]
I’m also in the S.F. Bay Area, and I have to say that I’ve never noticed any cashier giving my reusable bags a second glance- even at shops that are not your typical supermarket or other large retailer.
Maybe Kimberly H. is right about the type of bag making a difference because mine are like hers with a loop to hook onto their normal bagging platform.
Wow, it’s totally different here. Is Canada that far ahead of the game? Here, most grocery stores, and many department and hardware stores too, sell their own reusable bags (usually for like 99 cents each). One of the largest grocery chains here (Loblaws) has an entire line of reusable bag products, from simple grocery bags to large totes to folding market baskets with metal handles… the ‘canvas’ is made of recycled plastic bottles and when they wear out (which takes a couple years at least, they’re very sturdy!) you bring them back to the store and they’re re-recycled!
When they were first introduced a couple years ago, they even offered discounts on your grocery bill of 3 cents per bag, if you used cloth bags (even if they weren’t their OWN bags).
I’ve seen some stores that instead will charge for using plastic bags, though this is not very common.
Most cashiers, at any type of store, if I’m only getting a couple things and haven’t presented them with a bag, will ask me if I want a bag or if I’m okay.
Occasionally, a clerk might be surprised, mainly in stores that don’t yet sell their own reusable bags. But I’ve never seen disdain. Most people (clerks and regular folk) are like “oh, aren’t these bags great? They can hold so much, and they’re so much sturdier than the plastic bags!” Even ignoring the environmental-impact angle, they’re just easier and better to use.
Though I do have ONE negative story… a clerk had started to put my things in a bag, I stopped her and said I didn’t need a bag (I was just going to carry the stuff). No problem, she said, and took out the stuff and gave it to me. Then she TOOK THE PLASTIC BAG, CRUMPLED IT UP, AND THREW IT AWAY.
Like… it had my stuff cooties and they couldn’t use it for another customer? The whole POINT of me not using a bag was to keep it out a landfill. That, was just bizarre.
I’ve had the same reaction many many times at Wal Mart (the place I bought the bags from!!!!). I don’t think I’ve ever had a positive reaction from a checker at wal mart for my cloth bags. They often actually tell me how much of a pain the bags are. And I just have to play it off like “yeah, I know….but your store sells them!” It usually takes them at least twice as long to bag the groceries than what it would with plastic bags. The other grocery store I go to is nice because you bag your own groceries.
[...] I don’t get it. Why is it so awful to use my reusable bags? I put them up front so they are there right from the start, I don’t nitpick the way they are packed, I don’t have certain colored bags for certain items. Apparently, I’m not alone in this either. [...]
I cashier at a grocery store and a very good portion of customers use cloth bags, including myself. The average cloth bag is very difficult and time consuming to bag with because there is no support. The string bags are the worst…if you like dirty looks use those. But good store brand bags (around a buck) with the loop are actually easier to use than plastic, and take less time to load. I love any kind of reusable bag, even when people reuse their old plastic bags, but I can understand how cashiers & baggers who are not as aware may find it more of a nuisance.
Waw I had no idea that this was still such a big problem. Here in Belgium we are using reusable bags for some time now. The bags are often provided by the store at a very low price. In some stores they even provide a new one when the old one is ripped. In some stores you get extra points (they work with a point system where you get points when you buy certain products or for a certain amount of money. When you have enough points you can get gifts or storecheques for them)for using their reusable bags.
And no dirty looks from baggers for in most stores the customers bag their own groceries.
I have the same problem as well. I even had one cashier at my local Walmart (and I use WALMART’s reusable bags there) complain the entire time she was bagging my groceries about how much she hated those bags and she thought about buying them once, but if she did, it CERTAINLY would not be for groceries. It is so bad that I email Walmart’s customer service to complain. I young lady from my walmart did call me back and was very apologetic…so we will see if it did any good.
[...] let’s move on to my nearby grocery store, where I get the hairy eyeball every time I hand them my cloth bag. Oh, the horror! The hassle! The bags that are on sale right next to the cashier! The [...]
Plastic bags have always cost extra in Estonia (about quarter dollar each)… Moved to California with my mother, and now she is so used to free plastic bags, when we were in Estonia this summer she kept cursing about having to pay extra. :p