Bringing Home More Than You Bargained For?

You're doing your part to help the environment, taking your reusable bags to the grocery store and big-box store. Sometimes even taking them to department stores to carry home other purchases like clothing.  But there might be something important that you don't want to be carrying around -- icky germs! 

This Huffington Post article describes a study connecting a spike in e. coli infections and reusable bags.  It comes from using the bags at the grocery store for things like meat and vegetables and then not washing the bags, contaminating your future food products.   Gross. 

If you need more encouragement to toss those bags in the washing machine, here's a Food Network article about food safety related to reusable grocery bags.  

I wash my bags occasionally, but I should probably do it more often.  I use rip-stop nylon Baggu bags and love them. I get many compliments on them when I'm at the store.  They're the same size and design as a standard plastic bag like you might get at Target or the grocery store. They come in so many great colors now, more than when I first bought mine.  And rather than stuffing them into a bag, they fold up compactly into their own little pouch, which is convenient so they fit into a smaller space.  Aside from buying them from the company, they're also available on Amazon.com if you want to take advantage of the free shipping deal.

And next time you buy reusable bags, make sure they're washable. If you're interested, there's currently a Groupon deal for a set of four nylon Envirosax reusable bags.  They supposedly hold the contents of two supermarket plastic bags.  One feature I appreciate is that there is a snap attached, so they roll down into a little bundle rather than going into a little pouch that is easy to lose.    

So go right now and throw your reusable bags in the laundry.  And maybe buy more so you can wash them after every use.