My friend Caroline from Cheaper by the Half Dozen was the first to introduced me to the idea of making reusable shopping bags out of old T-shirts. Since then, I've seen the idea mentioned on several green blogs. It's a perfect solution for someone who doesn't want to shell out 2-10 bucks each on reusable bags.
I still love my compact folding bag that I keep in my purse. I use it all the time. And my set of 4 grocery bags from reusablebags.com are indispensable. But I found myself wanting another set for our second car. A "just in case" set for my husband for when he makes a small grocery store stops. But I need to keep all 4 of my biggies in my primary vehicle since I do most of the grocery shopping and I didn't want to shell out the bucks for a second "nice" set.
So back I went to the bookmarks and found the T-Shirt bag tutorial Caroline first sent me from Martha Stewart.
These work great! All you have to be able to do is sew one straight line and use a pair of scissors. I used 2 old T-shirts and a tank top that...ahem...no longer fit. Cleaned out the closet AND got some new grocery bags to boot. I think these would make really cute additions to a green gift basket or hostess gift.
And if you don't have any old T-shirts heading for the thrift store, head to the thrift store yourself and pick up some funky message T-shirts. They are often about a quarter each! A set of bags from old concert shirts would be very cool.
And speaking of the reusable bag issue, hop over and visit EnviroMom who's having an interesting discussion about the idea of plstic bag bans or taxes here in the US.
For more reading on reusable bags click over to my Plastic Bags Blow post.
