Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/03/19/reusable-produce-bags-to-limit.html
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Do they just get tossed in the laundry sort of thing?
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Dishwasher safe would be cool. I would rather wash my food things with other food things than my socks.
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I rinsed the one that got sticky orange mashed into it out in the sink with hot water and dish soap.
I would be worried about the spinning parts in my dishwasher eating one.
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We already wash our reusable canvas shopping bags (are those perhaps more common in Canada than the US?) in the washing machine as their own load, so tossing some of these in with them would probably be fine, I’d wager. I’ll have to try these.
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I don’t quite get the idea of produce bags.
Produce grows in the ground, and I wash it before I eat it anyway. Why do I need a bag to separate it out from the rest of my groceries?
I suppose the only use-case is for something from the sprayer section, like lettuce, but definitely not bell peppers, carrots, or apples.
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I think they are more of a convenience for the store than anything else. So you would be spending money to make the store’s job easier…
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For loose spinach and spring lettuce mix, etc I think the use is obvious.
For apples and oranges it keeps them from rolling all over the car when the curvy road invariably tips one of my bags over.
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But what will I have left to recycle for kitty litter bags?
ETA: and Seattle says no flushing the kitty poop.
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We toss them in the laundry with other reusable bags.
Yup. I’ve been using mesh bags like these for years. On one washing trip, the string on one bag got hooked on the agitator. I put them in a delicates bag since then. But they don’t need washed often. I doubt I wash them even once a year, just when one gets something particularly goopy on it that doesn’t just rinse off. Apples, onions, that sort of thing just isn’t going to do anything to the bag
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Anyone else have trouble with the people at the market thinking this is super weird? They’ve been concerned the bags add extra weight (negligible for items like potatoes) but it’s been such an issue at checkout I gave up. Also I use the bags for gathering compost anyway to bring to my dads worm farm.
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Reusable produce bags are a great way to reduce plastic use! Even better, are reusable produce bags that aren’t made out of fucking plastic.
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Perfect, thanks!
So they’re concerned that they’re getting free money… interesting business strategy 
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Wouldn’t this be an issue with misted veggies? Lettuce can hold a lot of water that will drip onto the floor, the check out counter, your other food.
I use canvas bags and recycle my produce bags (or save compostables in them) but it’s never dawned on me to just air dry and reuse them. I think I’ll go combination of mesh bags and re-use plastic for wet veggies. End diary entry 3/19/2019
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If you’re buying loose items that will be weighed; potatoes, apples, etc, this will make it easier to corral them to put on a scale, depending on how many of each thing you are buying.
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Weird. We go to a relatively low-rent grocery store in Tucson Arizona, and new cashiers look at them oddly, ask, “Are these yours?” “Oh, those are cool.” and then proceed.
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Never had a problem.
End diary addendum 3/19/2019.
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Yeah, I like, totally wash our canvas bags like, a lot. Probably every time. I definitely don’t just stuff them into one another and throw them back into the car.
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