Durango resident Jim Shoultz wants to switch from using single-use plastic bags to reusable bags, but the transition has been tricky ever since Colorado’s new bag fee took effect Jan. 1.
Shoultz said he has purchased reusable bags, but he keeps forgetting them in his truck, so he keeps getting hit with the 10-cent bag fee at area grocery stores.
“I’ve paid probably close to $2 in bag fees since it (the law) came into effect,” Shoultz lamented Sunday while checking out at south City Market.
Shoultz is not alone. Getting into the habit of bringing reusable bags has caught hundreds of shoppers off guard, according to grocery store employees.
But hundreds more have been doing it for years. Some offered simple tips for remembering the bags and caring for them.
City Market shopper Mike Guerin said the most important part of using the reusable bags is keeping them clean. Guerin has been using reusable bags for a few years and said he likes the cloth bags best. He cleans them using a combination of water and disinfectant (usually Tide) to remove any food or germs that may be left over after use.
He also tries to keep the bags on him at all times when he leaves the house, but if he leaves home without a bag he will buy a new one. He said they’re great for storage.
Shopper Joellen Valencia said she doesn’t clean her bags because they are not made of cloth and can’t be cleaned that well.
However, she wipes them out with a moist towelette before and after use to keep them clean.
Valencia has been using the reusable bags off and on for about a year and a half. She, like many others, keep them in her car. And if forgets them she pays the fee for the plastic bags or will buy another reusable bag.
She said she’s seen some people take loose grocery items in their cart and load them into boxes in their car, including at Walmart, which no longer offers plastic bags.
Valencia finds the reusable option to be durable and relatively cheap. She’s had one of her reusable bags for two years and hasn’t had problems with wear and tear.
“It’s going to keep waste from going to the dump and it won’t go back into the ground and that’s what they (the state) are really looking for,” Valencia said.
For Shoultz, it was his first day using the reusable bags.
He said his plan is to keep the bags in his car at all times – and to remember to bring them into the store – to avoid paying unnecessary fees.
He also has a cabinet dedicated to storing reusable bags in his house so he can find more if needed. He said he feels guilty whenever he uses the plastic bags because he knows they’re going to end up in the trash.
The amount of waste the plastic bags produce bothers him. The bag fee was necessary to effect change, he said, otherwise many people would go on using single-use bags.
“I see them all over, especially if you go down to New Mexico and see all of the plastic bags hanging on fences,” he said.
Most grocery store locations offer take-back bins near the entrance so customers can return plastic bags for recycling purposes once they are done using them.
Durango has four locations where plastic bags can be recycled including both City Markets, Walmart and Albertsons.
Albertsons is selling two reusable bags for $3, while City Market is selling them for 99 cents per bag and Walmart is offering them for 74 cents per bag.
tbrown@durangoherald.com
