Prada Handbags

I keep a few of the bags in a spot I pass on my way out the door, and sometimes a couple in the car, so forgetting to bring them isn’t an issue. The material of the reusable bags is considerably sturdier than that of the standard paper or plastic option, so when I’m climbing the three flights of stairs to my apartment I don’t have to worry about chasing tumbling oranges and apples down the steps after the bottom of the bag breaks open.

But then there’s the fact that in my pre-reusable grocery bag life I used my grocery bags as garbage liners. Originally, I used plastic bags, feeling a twinge of guilt every time I answered ‘plastic’ to the ‘paper or plastic’ question. I silently justified it with the rationale that I was reusing the bag, so requesting a petroleum product wasn’t that bad. Or at least not as bad as it could be.

Finally, thinking of all the plastic bags taking eons to breakdown in landfills or—mistaken for jellyfish—filling the bellies of sea turtles, I decided I needed to cut my contribution. So I started asking for paper bags instead, knowing that paper breaks down much faster than plastic and no sea turtle is going to think the brown rectangular thing is a jellyfish if it somehow ends up in the ocean. The problem with using paper bags as garbage liners? Some garbage is wet. Wet garbage can mean a soppy mess all over your floor and shoes when it comes time to take out the trash. Trust me.

Sometimes trying to do the ecologically correct thing is tricky. And messy—at least until you figure it out.

Alongside the array of odor-blocking, heavy-duty, fresh-smelling plastic trash liners at your local grocery store there are a couple of eco options.