Like a Bunnings or the local bottle shop?
Same but different, is it worth asking your local supermarket manager if they have anything to say about your suggestion?
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Some still do. Our fruit and vege store and an independent supermarket provide boxes for customers which choose to use them.
They are recycled. Most large stores have compactors which create cardboard bales, sent away for recycling.
While stores generate boxes, if every customer wanted to only use boxes, there wouldn’t be enough. To be enough, every product delivered to a store would need to be delivered in boxes, each customer would pack boxes such that there wasn’t free air in the box and all customer boxes were fully filled. This doesn’t happen.
Cardboard boxes also don’t suit many customers. They can be difficult to pack in a boot (or trolley) when there are many, difficult to carry (especially the elderly or with a disability) and aren’t good for carrying long distances (in larger shopping centres or if catching public transport).
It is also likely the level of recycling of the cardboard boxes will drop when customers take them home, as there is an increased likelihood they will end up in the general waste bins.
It is a potential solution for some, but not all.
Edit: For home deliveries, unfortunately cardboard boxes won’t work as efficiently as the current methods used by the supermarkets. To be efficient, supermarkets use standard sized carry crates for packing groceries into bags and for transporting to the customer. Using cardboard boxes will be a less efficient unless every cardboard box used at a supermarket is a standard size suitable for such purposes. If they aren’t, it would either mean double (or triple) handling of groceries or being not being able to fit as many groceries in the delivery truck (as the crates are designed to be stacked and fit neatly into the back of the trucks). Using cardboard boxes and their inefficiency will result in higher costs to the consumer.
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Agree with the observations by @phb about using boxes, and if I may add that there’s also the risk that workers could be injured by the repetitive stress (ligament sprain, muscle strain, carpal tunnel syndrome) of handling such loads.
BTW I have no problem taking my own shopping bags but those plastic carry bags which used to be supplied by the supermarkets would fit my kitchen small bin perfectly and would then go into the bigger common rubbish bin at the flats. I now need to buy small rubbish bin bags. In my case Supermarkets are saving money but it’s an added even if small cost to me and there’s been no real benefit to the landfill.
PS I understand that’s not the case for everyone and I welcome the reduction of plastic overall.
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I think if everyone were to ask any shop to recycle their old boxes it could make a difference.
I wonder which is more effective and practical?
The store directly separating its waste including cardboard boxes. To also take responsibility for ensuring the waste is directed efficiently to the recycler.
Or
The customer taking the used boxes and placing them in the mixed waste of the home recycling bin. Which is likely a longer and more energy intense return path.
Years ago I bought myself a set of EcoSilk shopping bags (Shop - Ecosilk Bags) which I keep permanently in my shoulder bag. They’re super strong, light, multi coloured, wash easily and dry quickly. They also make great “gift wrapping”, ie additional gifts.
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I always have one in my shoulder bag, just in case I need a few extras when out and about. I’ve often wondered about how the product is made and the Eco credentials? Great to have a durable reusable bag/s that fold or roll up to a handkerchief in bulk.
In looking to that site and some of the claims by Ecosilk Bags - the product is claiming “eco” credentials for a product made from nylon. It’s a petroleum product - acknowledged in their promotion:
They are made from 100% nylon parachute silk fabric, ……, and in the future will likely become plant based and more sustainable.
Parachute silk fabric is typically nylon, a reference to the close high strength “rip stop” weave used for that purpose.
Ecosilk also claim their product:
is endlessly recyclable,
To note Australia does not have an established or widely available soft plastics recycling industry able to take nylon fabric.
While I like the bags we have our supermarket staff struggle with filling them because being floppy they are not suited to their bag carousel holders.
The ideal of Emily Hay, creator and owner of Ecosilk bags, is for plastic bags to one day become extinct. This range of bags is designed to assist in that process, by making it easy and attractive to be environmentally friendly and to kick the plastic bag habit.
Still a plastic bag - one needs to ask why the supermarkets are not promoting them vs their preferred types of reusable plastic bags, or the latest move to zero plastic.
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You’re right, they must think people are idiots.
While ’ parachute silk’ might sound fine it’s actually made from 100% Nylon a synthetic fibre made from petroleum. A lot of harmful toxic chemicals are used in the production process to make nylon threads.
And Nylon fabric sheds off microplastics which end up in rivers and oceans from the washing water.
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It appears to meet the definition of greenwashing from the information provided on their website. Everything about the website suggests that the bags are eco-friendly:
- from the business name ‘Ecosilk Bags’. The word Eco infers some environmental credentials.
- the product name ’ EcoSilk Shopping Bags (and fabric called ‘parachute silk’) includes ‘silk’, which in its true form is natural. Nylon is not natural but the business makes a pie in the sky statement of ‘the future of nylon is positive, as it will eventually be made from plant based sources, as research and technology advances’. This statement is unsupported by evidence that it will replace all synthetic nylon (the link provided to Yeti doesn’t provide any information supporting their claims - this website acknowledges some of the challenges posed) and currently all nylon the business uses is synthetic. Even if it is does end up being made from plant based sources, these might not be better for the environment that those made from petroleum products,
- providing information on why plastic bags are ‘bad’ for the environment, and
- making statements to indicate that nylon isn’t really that bad.
There are statements suggesting that nylon is good for the environment as they can potentially be recycled even it states that 'nylon fabric back into more fabric is still in its infancy and has yet to develop into producing large scale commercial volumes. However it is only a question of time before this happens. There is some limited recycling available, but these need to be sent back to Ecosilk Bags which then are forwarded to to a recycler in Victoria.
It also justifies the the bags are 'environmentally sound due to the longevity and strength of the bags’. Both these justifications is why single use plastic have been banned as they remain within the environment for a long time.
The only positive or environmental claim that stacks up is that the nylon bags are multiple use plastic bags, rather than single use plastic bags. This isn’t a great reason to use the bags as many multiple use plastic bags are no longer provided by many businesses as they are thicker or are made from materials which last longer when in the environment.
Yes they are reusable and appear to pack in a small volume, but if is trying to reduce plastic use/generation there may be better alternatives. The EcoSilk website alludes to some worth considering:
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I remember when the supermarkets used large, thick paper bags. I remember stepping out of the bus in a Darwin Wet season downpour clutching my weekly shopping - when the bottom fell out of my packed paper bag and I was still half a block from home.
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As kids, I also remember the paper bags as well. Living in Brisbane, any cold items would produce condensation causing the bags to get wet and the side/bottom to fail. This was particularly the case arriving home and removing shopping from the boot.
Paper bags are making a comeback, but they are more single use than longterm multi-use. While they are recyclable and made from renewable sources (trees), they can have significant environmental impacts if everyone decided to use them.
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As do I (as a young adult, not a kid). What I don’t recall is ever having had any of them break on me. That might be partly because in those days we got milk from the milkman (remember milk delivery to the door, daily?), and probably rarely bought anything that was dripping with condensation from the supermarket. Also, in those days the checkout person would often double-bag anything cold/wet/heavy.
The only bag I’ve had break was one of the non-woven polypropylene type. It wasn’t old, but had been sitting on the passenger seat in my car, ready to hand when needed, and had succumbed to all-day sunlight. I didn’t notice it was damaged until it gave up the ghost while full of shopping. 
From then on, shopping bags were housed in the boot of the car, out of the sun.
I think the best type of shopping bag is a reusable one, and the best type of reusable fabric for the bag is a washable, woven, renewable-fibre textile like denim or canvas, preferably repurposed from discarded clothing etc. The bag would be made on a similar pattern to the standard PP bags, which are a good design (and foldable).
Some day, I intend to make a few of those from old jeans … when I get a roundtoit.
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My father used to buy unbleached flour to make his bread, it came in a calico bag like the one in the photo above. I cut a few strips from the top to make the handles (when I still bothered with a sewing machine). It’s about 8 years old and still going.
Pillow cases can also be used to make light, washable, durable shopping bags like these:
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I too remember those bags and the occasional tear or break that would occur. I also remember not seeing plastic everywhere, as usage increased there has been a very obvious plastic eyesore and environmental problem. Bread was wrapped in waxed paper or foil, my fond memory was of a commercial milk bread that to freshen you would place in a warm oven in its foil wrapping, it was yum.
Paper even if it was left in the environment, would break down relatively quickly and in at least our and our neighbours garden beds was used in layers to help prevent weed breakthroughs and eventually became mulch in the beds. If you didn’t want paper bags, there was always the cardboard box or the wooden ones that a number of in vegetables and fruit were packaged from the farmers (for some produce the wooden crates were lined with foil).
I appreciate that you have found the Ecosilk bags so useful for you. Manufacture and usage of nylon has never been an environmentally sensitive choice as many have already pointed out, no matter what the business that produces your bags may claim. Nylon became popular during WW II as parachutes relied on silk for the material and silk was in very short supply. USA industry produced a replacement that was more available than real silk. This was nylon, it was made from petroleum sources that they had in abundance for their needs at the time, and was light and strong. This made it a good choice of product at that difficult time that could be used to replace the hard to obtain silk fibres in that very difficult time. It does not ever mean it was environmentally friendly or an eco-conscious choice of fabric and we certainly know better now what problems this and similar petroleum based fabrics (e.g, polyester) cause.
There are other options that have greater value for the environment at reasonable hip pocket cost. Cotton, hemp, sisal, jute, linen (though this is usually more expensive than other choices) are a lot of those choices. Cotton. to me is not a best choice either, it has very large water and chemical requirements to grow it at industrial quantities. Sisal, jute, and hemp have better environmental impacts If you want something light and strong, though it is a more expensive choice, is to buy or make real silk bags. Real silk bags are super light, compact when folded, immensely strong, and very long lived.
Lyocell or Tencel (same product but Tencel is a trademarked name) can be decent choices as well as they are manufactured in a more environmentally friendly manner than their cousins rayon (viscose) and modal. The fabrics can look and feel like silk. Lyocell/Tencel fabric is strong even when wet, and has good moisture wicking ability. This is to do with how the fibres are made, Lyocell can be made to look like a number of fabrics including wool, cotton, and as mentioned, silk. Lyocell fibres do breakdown eventually as they are cellulose based fibres.
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I want this. Yes, it seems like its made of plastic but you’d only ever need one. Talk about reusable!
I saw it advertised on ebay just once (and it was more expensive back then) but this thread sent me in search of it again. I don’t have the dosh to buy, and probably won’t since I’m getting rid of my car (cant afford it anymore).
Best design ever, I reckon.
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Shoppacart does look good, and well-designed.
The Clax Cart also looks like a good design. Similarly pricey.
We have one of these.
Was given to us as a hand-me-down. It is perfect for the walk to the local shops. Larger items go in unbagged. Smaller items go into our 20 year old calico bags. We have added some hooks below the handle so it can be attached to the front of a shopping trolley when shopping.
My grandmother also had a similar one. In the 1970s, some supermarkets had parking bays at the front of the store for them… while shopping was done. I wouldn’t park out the front now days as it is likely to roll away and disappear - hence the installation of the hooks. We do get the odd look from fellow shoppers when they see it attached to the front of a supermarket trolley.
Maybe not for much longer. Apparently they’re becoming fashionable, and not just with old folks.
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