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Canvas grocery bags have recently been making an appearance at the entrance to many grocery stores, selling for about $2 per bag. We know that plastic bags are bad for the environment, but are stores really trying to be more environmentally friendly, or are they just trying to get their customers to buy something else? Are canvas bags really more efficient than plastic bags?

When it comes to your budget, in some countries it’s better to bring your own bag than to rely on the plastic bags the stores give you. Some places charge for the bags themselves. Ireland has put a customer tax on their plastic bags.

Yet, other countries tend to be less dependent on their vehicles than we are in the United States so you find more people walking to their grocery stores or riding their bikes. Fewer groceries are actually bought at one time, although more frequent trips to the market are made.

In the United States, where we have our SUVs, pick-up trucks, and minivans, we tend to fill our carts full and make a couple of big grocery visits a month. So is it even reasonable to use canvas bags for people who shop like this? If you do two or three large grocery shopping trips every month, you’re probably coming away with 10+ plastic bags at a time. How many canvas bags would that take?

Yet, we still know that canvas is better for the environment. Some cities in the United States are now making laws to try to curb our plastic habit. San Francisco recently passed a law making it illegal for large grocery stores to use plastic bags. As an alternative, they offer biodegradable paper bags. Boston is also considering doing this, although some customers allege that doing this causes a new kind of problem with the environment-the cutting down of trees.

However, most customers who have switched to the canvas bags report that they feel good about themselves. They feel as though they are doing their own part in helping the environment.

Although less than 3% of plastic bags are recycled and many end up in landfills, flying through the air on windy days, and clogging city drains, some people have found creative ways to re-use the bags. Some shoppers report that they have used them to line kitty-litter boxes or to use in small garbage cans throughout the house.

Some shoppers argue that plastic bags aren’t as sturdy as canvas bags are the poor quality makes them awkward to use. It takes more plastic bags than canvas bags to hold groceries since plastic has to be doubled for heavy items and can rip on box edges. Canvas tends to hold more weight.

The paper bags of the past might have been more environmentally friendly, like the canvas bags, but they were often unwieldy and lacked handles. This made it difficult for shoppers to carry more than one at a time. The canvas bags of today at least generally have handles, making them easier to carry.

If customers don’t want to purchase a canvas bag at the grocery store, they can always find them online or in other shops. There are many websites that sell canvas grocery bags and they can usually be personalized as well.

If shoppers want to go this route and find one elsewhere, they can usually find some that come with shoulder straps, which come in handy when walking long distances.

Although it does make more environmental sense to use the canvas bag instead of resorting to the plastic bags, it also takes a little more work on the customer. Instead of making large purchases at the store, it might be helpful to go a couple of times a week and purchase fewer groceries at one time. Or, to just buy quite a few canvas bags.

An advantage of the canvas bags is that even though they tend to cost about $2 per bag, they last a long time. If shoppers use them properly, they should last about six months. They can also be washed and some are made from recycled materials.

At the moment, it’s up the customer as to whether or not they want to use the plastic bags or purchase canvas. However, if laws continue to be passed making it illegal to use plastic, it might not be a choice for much longer. In that case, it might be a good idea to go ahead and switch to the canvas bags now.