So I’m all proud of myself for switching to reusable grocery bags, and then I hear that they can make you sick. So I read the article and found out that reusable grocery bags can harbor bacteria left by food that was carried in the bags. So l thought about this. Everything I buy at the store is already packaged, except for some produce, like bananas, that I don’t put in plastic bags. Cereal, barbecue sauce, broccoli, chicken – it’s all packaged up before it ever hits my reusable bags. So I thought I was safe. Until…
I went to the grocery store, and one of the things I bought was a big tray of steaks. They were pretty juicy, so I put a plastic bag around them. Since it was a really long tray, the plastic bag didn’t cover the whole thing, but I put it in my cart with the bag on the bottom so that any drippings would be caught in the plastic and continued my shopping. When I got home, I found that the box person had put the steaks in my reusable bag with the bag on the top. There were drippings on the bottom of the bag and on my other groceries in that same bag. I was lucky that it didn’t leak out of the bag into my car. Now I could see how bacteria could get in the bags.
So took the thick plastic liner out of the bottom of the bag, wiped it down with bleach and water, and threw the rest of the bag in the washing machine. It came out fine, still holds its shape, and life goes on.
I understand how sterile disposable products can be, but we’re creating a major environmental problem with all the stuff that we throw away, especially things that aren’t biodegradable. When I went through this process, I realized that everything I buy is already packaged – in plastic, cardboard, styrofoam and glass. What did people do before all this stuff came into common, everyday use? I think they just used good old fashioned soap and water.
I think we need to reduce our use of disposable products, even if it takes a little bit of washing to make it work. Hmmm. I wonder if my laundry detergent is biodegradable…
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#1 by s. cooper at August 30th, 2009
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to all the millions of people that think that using the bags are good. well i work as a cashier at walmart and any canvas, cotton etc.. are bad. people do not care what you put in the bags, i ask the customer if they want me to mix chemicals with any food they say fill it up i dont care. even like mixing a box of dish soap with meat. people make me sick when the bring in their bags full of dog or cat hair, i repeatable have a woman who brings in her urine infested cat bags, a man who brings in his grease covered white bags, us cashiers are not allowed to refuse the bags, their fore we get sick. people wake up your going to make the world sick, a new diease will spring out of these re-usable bags. i have asthma, and have been put in the hospital more than once because of these diease bags. who is going to pay for my bills? us as cashiers have seen mold, dirty diapers, blood, cat urine, grease, pet hair, pet dander, mouse tirds, dirt, human hair, toilet paper from runny noses, bandadeswith blood and puss. think people are you really helping the envoriment or are you going to cause the world a new dieases.? the bags need to be pure white and washed after every use with bleach or every customer needs to bag their own groceries so the cashier and other customers can stay healthy.
#2 by admin at August 30th, 2009
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My bags stay in the trunk of my car and are only used for groceries. I don’t wash them out with bleach each time. I think that’s going a bit far.
As for chemicals getting mixed up, I suppose that small amounts of dish soap, cat litter, etc must come in contact with each other in grocery carts and other areas of the store. When something spills, it needs to be cleaned up.
There must be some middle ground. We should be able to clean up when there’s a need (or maybe proactively) without using disposable everything.
As far as working with other people’s bags goes, I think you just have to wash your hands frequently. There are a lot of jobs where you come into contact with less than sterile things, and they just wash their hands a lot.