Reusable Shopping Bags 101: Which ones and why?

There's a huge variety of reusable shopping bags now since they came out on the market a few years ago.  I have purchased several different kinds, so this post is going to explain the various kinds and include my review of each.

First, I'll discuss the most common type of reusable shopping bag out there.  These are found mostly at grocery stores, but also some large chain stores.

The bags I have from Albertson's feature a loop at the top of the bag and a black piece of heavy duty plastic-like material inside for the bottom.  I do not recommend getting bags for groceries without a heavy duty bottom.  However, I think it's more rare to find grocery bags with the heavy duty bottoms, so you can make your own with cardboard or the thickest lining available at a fabric store.  The loop is really handy for self-checkout because it holds the bag open for you when you place the loop over the plastic bag holder.  I always use these for grocery shopping and never have problems with them.  We've been using these for two+ years now.

The second type of bag is one made from a thicker plastic-like material.  I got some from Costco, Trader Joe's, and Fresh and Easy.

The ones from Costco (at least when I bought them about a year ago) came in a pack of four with two square bags and two long rectangle bags.  They are the largest (of course) reusable shopping bags I've found.  With this type of bag, a heavy duty bottom isn't needed because the material is heavier duty than the standard grocery reusable bag above.  Lots of heavy items may cause sagging though.  I put a game next to the Costco bag because it's the perfect size for carrying board games to a friend's house.  We've also taken hot meals to people's homes in the Costco bags.  They can carry A LOT!  Be creative with their use and you'll find you never need another plastic grocery bag!

The third type of bag is the hot/cold bag.  Lots of grocery stores sell these now, but compare prices before you buy one.  I ended up getting one at Sprouts because Sprouts is the furthest grocery store from my house and I needed it at the moment.

It's about the size of the standard grocery bag, and it does a great job of keeping food at a good temperature.  If you have a family, you can pack a lunch or snacks in it for a day trip or picnic.  Throw a couple of ice packs in even to help keep the food cooler.  This bag has never leaked either.

Fourth is the reusable shopping bag for non-food items.

This is a special baby registry edition of a Target shopping bag, but they do sell similar fold-up wallet bags that are red (and I love red!)  The fold-up wallet bag is a great size to put in your purse, and just be sure to not use it for food items so you can always use it for clothes or other items at your favorite non-food store.  Target even gives you a five or ten cent discount for every bag you bring!  This particular one even has a pocket on the front, so it could double nicely as a book bag.  You could slip your phone and keys in the pocket, books in the big pocket, reusable coffee cup in hand, and head to the coffee shop.

Fifth is the reusable produce shopping bag, which I recently purchased on Amazon.  For $9.46 I got ten Bring It! Valencia produce bags with a bonus small bag that they can all fit in.

On the left are the bags inside their holding bag, and on the right is a produce bag in use.  They're just as light as a plastic bag from the store, so you don't have to worry about it costing you more to use these versus the plastic bag.  They'll also be great for taking to a farmer's market, once I get around to that, maybe this week.  When we went camping recently, we stashed all of our little snacks in them for the week, like bags of pretzels and nuts, bars, etc.  These seem like they'll hold up well.  I ran them through the wash, but not the dryer because they don't need to be dried.

Do you have other favorite reusable shopping bags?  Do you want to know more about any of these?  Leave a comment or send me an email!

Reusable "Paper" Towels

In one of my first posts I mentioned my desire to try to make as many things reusable in my house as I could, including paper towels. This week I purchased two of Trader Joe's Kitchen Cloth and plan to clean my counters with them thoroughly today.  These can be found on the aisle where they have cleaners, usually hanging from the shelf.

In my usual morning perusal of baby deal sites today, I came across Pepperjack Home products on Baby Half Off.  They make tons of different reusable products, including snack bags, dryer sheets, and wool dryer balls.  However, I purchased their kitchen wet bag with twelve reusable cloth towels in attempt to replace my paper towels.  I'm rather excited to give this a try!  The wet bags and towels come in lots of different stylish fabrics, but I chose a simple green fabric with red and yellow dots on it so it didn't look too feminine.  The one pictured below is obviously not the one I bought.

Something I was reading recently (I think it was the Web MD diaper article I linked to last week) in regards to using reusable, washable items instead of throw-away argued that using reusable and washable items was just as bad for the environment because it used electricity and water.  However, water is an ever-renewing source.  Second, everything we throw away will end up in a landfill or something like that.  Land ills are horrible on the environment around them because of the smells and other things released into the air and ground, so it has to be a better trade-off to wash these things rather than throw away more.  I'm going to make a note to do more research on landfills to share with you.  I also promised you a post on reusable shopping bags last week, and I took photos of several of my bags last night, so I will write that post this weekend.  In the mean time, check out some reusable cloth towels for your kitchen!

Traveling with Cloth Diapers

Once again, as an expecting mother all I can tell you about this subject are my preparations.  For running errands, I intend to have a smaller wet bag to go in my mommy clutch by Lilly Bit that will serve as the diaper bag.  Wet/dry bags have pockets for both soiled and unsoiled items.  For longer days out, I will bring a larger wet/dry diaper bag, like the bag or backpack I registered for on Amazon, both by Planet Wise.  I intend to sew in velcro in the backpack so that the wet pocket will velcro closed to help prevent smells and leaks from escaping.  I also purchased a wet/dry bag with clear pockets on the outside by Smitten Baby from babyhalfoff.com because I liked the idea of having pockets that would allow me to see where things are.  However, the pockets only have one piece of velcro in the middle for the closure, so I may sew some more velcro on so that the pocket closes more.

Don't forget to have a nice changing pad, too!  I registered for Kushies Deluxe Flannel Changing Pad because they're extra large, soft on one side, and waterproof on the other.  If you have a crossover, SUV, or van, you might also like the car changing pad by Dipe n' Go.  It attaches to the inside back of your car, holds diapers wipes, and keeps the pad in place since it's being held in down.  I've also found a couple diaper rash ointment options that allow you to not get gunk all over your hands!  Wouldn't that be nice while you're out, especially?  One is the Magic Stick by GroVia, which is all-natural, and the other is California Baby's Non-Burning Diaper Spray. 

Both of our parents live out of town, so in traveling to their houses, I'll bring either the diaper pail liner for soiled diapers or a couple large wet bags, and one of the larger wet/dry bags.  I will certainly have to have all of my diapers clean before leaving, and bring all of them with me.  If we'll be there for more than 2-3 days, then I'll also have to bring stuff for washing the diapers (i.e., detergent).

Cloth Diapering--A healthier choice?

There's much debate among researchers about whether cloth or disposable diapers are a healthier, safer choice.  Web MD concludes that cloth may not actually be so much more safe and healthy for a baby than thought, despite listing the many chemicals in disposables within this article.  The article discusses some of the biggest health concerns I've heard.  The same use of harmful chemicals in tampons long ago is present in disposable diapers, but the article disputes this concern with the fact that tampons were inserted in the body whereas diaper are not.  Since I'm having a boy, I was concerned when I heard about the German study that found scrotum temperatures to be higher in boys who wore disposables, which kills the sperm.  However, Web MD says that another study was done two years later that shows the temperatures were the same.  Additionally, dioxin (or a type of bleach) is present in most disposable diapers to make them white, so Web MD whisks away this worry by saying that parents can choose to buy chlorine-free diapers. The article fails to mention that dioxin is also known to cause cancer and is banned in most other countries, but Michelle Alsoop addresses that in her article about dioxin elimination.

Personally, I don't think Web MD's counter-arguments are very strong.  Despite the fact that diapers aren't inserted in the baby and you can choose chlorine-free diapers, there's a host of other chemicals in disposables.  Plus how can we be sure that the same tampon chemical really isn't harmful?  What if parents don't know dioxin is present in disposables?  Lastly, how could one study show differences in scrotum temperatures and one doesn't?  It seems there are some major discrepancies here.

Unfortunately, there are a host of other things to be concerned about regarding disposables.  In an article from CBC News, it says, "Diapers contain a variety of plastics, adhesives, glues, elastics and lubricants, some of which can cause irritation."  The article also explains that diaper-making companies are self-regulated, meaning they have to check for themselves to make sure they're meeting diaper regulations.  What a joke!!  They also don't have to list all of the ingredients in their diapers, and many companies only list one ingredient while there's a long list of other things in them.  According to the article, some diapers may have chemicals in them that are known to cause irritations, more serious skin problems, and respiratory problems. 

My conclusion is I know what's in a cloth diaper, uh, cloth, which is more safe than taking a gamble with disposables.  It seems there's no incredibly conclusive evidence on the harmful effects of disposables, but there are a lot of big concerns.  I'd rather not risk those concerns.

Cloth Diapering 101

This coming Saturday is the Great Cloth Diaper Change event where parents around the world will attempt to set a new world record for the most cloth diapers changed at one time.  Leading up to this event is a blog hop started by The Eco Chic (see button to the right), which I decided to join today since this blog is partially about cloth diapering.  I will resume my once-a-week blogging next week with a post on reusable shopping bags, as previously promised.  Today I decided to address Monday's topic since I didn't write about it yet.

As I mentioned before, I'm expecting my first baby in a few months, so I can't offer much advice about how to cloth diaper.  However, I can offer up the advice I've gotten from others about what you need.  Here's my growing list:

1. Diapers (obviously): 20-24 seems to be the consensus among CD users I know.  There are all sorts of different kinds, but I plan to use mostly covers with inserts by GroVia, BonniBuns, and Thirsties (because they make a small size to fit newborns).  I also plan to have a few FuzziBunz* pocket diapers to help along the nursery workers at church and my parents with this new challenge of cloth diapering.

*Correction: I'm now planning to get Booty Buns pocket diapers because they truly will fit a newborn.  This company is also a stay at home mom business that's conveniently located near me so I can pick up the diapers from her instead of pay for shipping.  Additionally, she donates one cloth diaper for each sold and provides two inserts and a cloth wipe with each diaper purchased. 

2. Two or more wet bags: I've heard high ratings for PlanetWise wet bags, so that's what I plan to use.  PlanetWise makes tons of different sizes, plus a wet/dry bag that includes two pockets--one for the used diapers and one for unused dipes and other diapering necessities.  I'm planning to use this bag and the backpack they're making that's similar as diaper bags and then having some plain ol' large bags for the downstairs part of the house or traveling.

3. Pail liner: Two pail liners is a good idea because then you always have one available while one is being washed.  I've registered for pail liners by PlanetWise, but I've also heard good things about pail liners by Blueberry.

4. Detergent: I spent tons of time researching detergents, not wanting to spend an exorbitant amount of money on washing (20+ cents/load) but, of course, wanting the best for my CDs.  I settled on the unscented hard water version of cloth diaper detergent from Crunchy Clean.  I split an order with a friend of mine so we qualified for free shipping.  I also plan to try out their pure oxygen cleaner and other cleaning products in the future. I decided to go with Crunchy Clean because of price and my extremely hard water situation, mainly.

5. Drying rack and clothespins: It's best to try air drying cloth diapers as much as possible from what I've heard and read, plus drying them in the sun gets rid of stains and helps sanitize them.

That's all I'm aware of for now!  There are lots of other great accessories that you may want, like a diaper sprayer, but aren't so necessary.  You can check out my Amazon registry and registry at Grow Natural (an Orange County baby boutique) if you're interested in all of the diapering accessories I've registered for or something specific.  Today's topic for the blog hop is saving money with cloth diapers, which I already wrote about last week, so you can check that out in the archives if you missed it.

A break and a link

Last week my husband and I took a vacation to Zion and Bryce National Parks.  It was magnificent!  This obviously didn't leave me time to write a post last week, but I intend to post about reusable shopping bags at the end of this week. 

My first post was on various types of reusable sandwich/snack bags, so for now, check out this tutorial for making your own sandwich/snack bags on Cotton Bottom Mama's blog.  She doesn't use any sort of lining for her bags, but you certainly could, keeping in mind that your food will be rubbing against this lining.  In fact, if you have any ideas for a good lining material, send them my way because I'd love to make these bags but would prefer a lining.

Happy crafting, reusing, and recycling!  Oh, this week is also Real Diaper Week over at the Real Diaper Association website (see my button).  There will be lots of new information going up on their site and giveaways all over!

Cloth Diapering = Less Money

I'm a mom-to-be carrying a baby boy at 22 weeks now, 18 weeks left!  Nearly two years ago my niece was born, and my sister-in-law had decided to cloth diaper.  At first I thought it was a little crazy, but then I saw the diapers and calculated the cost difference, among other things, and I was also convinced I would cloth diaper my babies. As I mentioned, there are plenty of good reasons to cloth diaper, but I'm going to focus on the cost efficiency this time.  Here are five unconventional reasons to cloth diaper and here are six more conventional reasons to cloth diaper.  Some of these reasons I will also cover later.

According to the Real Diaper Association, one child will cost about $1,600 to diaper for the first two years of life.  

Unfortunately, a diaper service for the same amount of time won't be much cheaper, maybe $100-$300 cheaper over the two years.

However, a basic set of cloth diapers (not including laundering necessities and other cloth diapering needs, like wet bags) costs as low as $300.  People sell their used cloth diapers on ebay, too!  Using the Cloth Diaper Calculator on Kelly Wels's website, I figured the cost of my cloth diapers, laundering them, and purchasing the wet bags and such would come out to roughly the same amount as using disposables would for the FIRST YEAR.  After the first year of my child's life though, we'll be saving a considerable amount of money--about $500-$700 per year, per child! Isn't that amazing?!  If I have two children who wear cloth diapers for four total years, I will save $1,500-$2,100!!  If you spend less on your cloth diapering stuff, then you'll save MORE!

If you want to know more about cloth diapering, check out these sites:

• Real Diaper Association
• The Cloth Diaper Whisperer Blog or their shop, Kelly's Closet 
• All About Cloth Diapers 
• The Diaper Jungle
• Kelly Wels

Questions?  Comments?  Thoughts?  Leave a comment or send me an email!