CA has come full circle regarding reusable grocery bags

last time I took a reusable one to the store, they said they couldn't touch it, but if I wanted to bag the groceries myself, I could still use it. It hadn't even dawned on me, but it does make sense.

I imagine it’s because the employees don’t want to touch the shoppers’ personal items, which would include reusable bags.

If you can, choose paper. Those can be recycled.

That's exactly what it is.  Meijer here in MI has said the same.  You can use the reusable bags if you're doing Shop N Scan (which I do, use your phone to scan and bag as you shop that way you don't have to put the stuff on the belt or have the cashier touch it) but otherwise it's paper or plastic.

They wouldn’t let DH being his own bags into Trader Joe’s last week. Ironic really as it was one of the very few times he’s remembered to bring them!!

The amount of plastic that we are now using makes my skin crawl.

I haven’t used mine in the last month except for a trip to Aldi and I washed them right after unloading.

I noticed at another store that they took out the bin at the front for recycling them. (Our city recycling doesn’t include bags) One if the food pantries here has been asking for extras, so I sent my stash with a neighbor to take there.

Our area started this last week. I thought it made a lot of sense.

I use cotton bags that are easy to wash, but they end up on a car seat or in a shopping cart before I get to check out. They aren't as clean as I want to believe.

My son got gas at Sams this weekend. He said they were limiting the number of people entering, keeping people spaced in line while they wait, and had an elaborate system for spacing, washing, and passing out carts.

I'm glad people are trying anything and everything to prevent spread.

My thoughts exactly! It is forbidden in my house to throw away a plastic bag from a store. Those are perfect for catbox scooping!

I was surprised to see several people in line yesterday with their reusable bags. I've put mine away for the time being. The grocery I'm using still offers paper bags so that's what I get, as they are recyclable here while the plastic ones aren't.

Yeah, they're not using reusable bags here either but Oregon law still means no plastic and paper bags are 5 cents each. 😜

I’m in SoCal. Albertson’s, Target, and Stater Bros. are not allowing reusable bags. I don’t know about Aldi because I haven’t been there for about a week. I didn’t know about the ban at Target but I did bring a clean reusable bag last week. Went to self checkout and then washed it after.

I also read that Albertson’s wasn’t letting people in unless they were wearing a mask. Read that the Aldi in Menifee was offering gloves and masks to shoppers.

I rarely use my own bags, anyway. I always ask for paper bags, which I use for trash. And I love the new heavier plastic bags, too. The few that I get, I use for the goop that comes out of the stockpot when I make soup.

Nothing goes to waste here. So sue me.

Great.  What is next?  And it can live on plastic for what, 3 days.  So are people going to save the potentially virus-laden bags in their garage and then reuse them or are they going to be throwing them out by the ton?  At least Costco will just return your things to your cart and you can bag them yourself at your car.  I have those collapsible plastic bins in my car that I transfer my Costco purchases into so that I don’t need to bring anything in with me or use a cardboard box.

I wouldn’t mind wiping down the self check area and bagging into my own reusable bags, but they will still require washing at home just in case your packages have something on them.  With all the extra effort required by this virus, we would all end up staying home all day anyway performing the extra chores required.  Well, the women would.