apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

YES! My fiance and I did this recently. I will have to take a photo. We have always wanted a vintage 60's coat rack, with the multi-colored balls at the ends of each hook. They were always $65 and up, sometimes way up, every time we saw one. So we bought a plain white one with plain wooden balls at the end of each hook, that wasn't as cool looking as the real vintage ones, but there was a strong resemblance. We sanded off the clear finish on the little wooden balls, painted them bright colors, and voila! A vintage-INSPIRED alternative for a total of about $11! We keep our shopping bag on it, as well as my purse, his messenger bag, our bike helmets, and last but not least, our little folding shopping cart. Now when we head out the door, everything is right there at our fingertips, and we don't forget things anymore!
~Lenore :)

Yeah, I actually left mine in the back seat of my car yesterday, and didn't think of them until I got to the register. Some re-programming is in the works. (I've moved them to the front seat.)

How about those ones that fold and zip themselves up into small teeny things that you can keep in your handbag?

We've gotten the hang of it lately, but my BF and I used to CONSTANTLY forget our bags when we went shopping. Now we make sure they're right on the way to the garage, so they're harder to ignore. What I've found also really helps is to keep a neatly folded plastic bag in my purse for random excursions - this has saved me lots of times from getting a bag at the pharmacy, corner store, etc.

I do keep my bags on a hook by the door (they're those plaid fold-up kind, so they're kind of festive looking. Or so I tell myself) but what happens when you stop at the store on the way home from a day out and about?

For that purpose, I bought a reisenthel bag at the container store that folds up to almost nothing and fits in my handbag. I LOVE it, and have much less plastic this way.

The container store doesn't seem to have it on their website, but here's a link to similar styles on reusablebags.com (the acme and chicobag)
http://www.reusablebags.com/store/shopping-bags-ultra-compact-c-2_6.html

i'm always using my bags for some od job or another & then forgetting when i go to the store.

now, i have my bag in my car. i'm going to try to take them back to the car from now on.

I did get the Envirosax, which fold up really tiny, but I refuse to carry a handbag. So I do still have to change the way my mind works.

Not exactly on topic, but I still purposefully get plastic bags at the store sometimes because I use them to scoop the kitty litter into (I do this every day, as one of our cats is highly persnickety, and throw it away outside). Is there a more environmentally sound method of dealing with the kitty litter? (Other than keeping the litter box in the bathroom and flushing it, which I find really gross?)

I have these and absolutely adore them. The pouches they fold into are small enough to always have in your handbag and the bags themselves are sturdy and roomy. Highly recommend.

Joan A., the pouches that the mentioned bags fold into have little clips on them that you could attach to your key ring, for instance. That way you won't need a handbag at all.

I have my reusable bags corralled in a crate in the back seat of my car which means I frequently forget to take them with me to the store, and of course the answer is to move them up to the front seat. Duh. I can do some of my grocery shopping on foot but I still have to remember to take a bag.

I also use plastic bags for scooping out litter and for taking my newspapers and bottles/etc. down to the recycling bins (different bags, of course). Jenny in DC, you run a substantial risk of gumming up your plumbing if you flush litter down the toilet, even if it's just the little bits of litter adhering to the cat turds. (Yuck)

As for throwing it away outside, although it's all biodegradable (clay and turds) unless it's your own garden it may be against the law to dump animal waste. Let alone whether it's offensive to other people. Also -- I wouldn't use cat feces in a compost heap, it's largely animal proteins and will attract undesirable pests as well as getting very smelly.

Is there a green solution?

Jenny in DC - could you buy biodegradable bin liners/plastic bags instead?

i love my envirosax! i do carry a purse so i have one in there all the time. my problem is just reminding my husband to grab one or two on his way to the farmer's market :)

I also love my envirosax! They fold up so small that I always have one with me in my bag. I've been having fun tallying up in my head just how many plastics bags I've saved myself from.

I also keep getting plastic bags for kitty litter disposal. I thought about biodegradable bags, but I've read that even newspaper doesn't really decompose in landfills due to lack of air. I can't see the point of spending much more to buy biodegradable bags that aren't going to decompose anyway.

I roll up my Strand tote and use its own handles to tie the roll shut and it always sits at the bottom of my handbag. It is quite light and takes up very little bag real estate.

I'll add another big thumbs-up for Envirosax. They are sold in packs of five, so I typically keep one or two in my purse and the others float around my car/house. They are so small and light when rolled up, but roomy and super strong when in use. They hold way more than the standard plastic grocery bag. If they do get a little heavy (which they are study enough to handle), I love the fact that the strap fits over my shoulder. Plus, they have nifty designs on them!

@Jenny in DC:

I have the same issue. At this point I flush but beforehand I was buying recycled plastic trashbags so the benefit is on the front-end rather than back-end.

The only problem is that they're not that thick so if you're putting them out for trash collection, they might not stand on their own. My trash goes in collective bins outside my landlord's door so I always ended up having to double-bag everything anyway. (For general garbage I now reuse the bags it comes in for regular garbage as I use either World's Best or Swheat Scoop and then put that in a recy-bag so it is double-bagged but one of those is reused.)

My husband and I made a rule that if we didn't remember to bring reusable bags to the store, we could only purchase items that we were willing carry sans bag. You might not be surprised that it didn't take long for us to remember to grab the bags as we headed out the door.