(no subject)

[seekingferret]

Update on the reusable bag situation:

I ended up buying a set of reusable bags from Amazon. I am very happy with them! They roll up very easily so they take up very little space. I've stashed a few in my bike bag, a few in my apartment, and the rest tend to stay in my car. They were also handy when I went to Chicon, they took up very little space in my suitcase but were useful for carrying all sorts of stuff.

I have forgotten them a few times, and in those cases had to buy reusable bags from the store, but they're not very expensive- the bags at Shop Rite are thirty cents a bag. And here's a thing I quickly realized... the plastic bags had gotten so tiny, and the reusable bags they sell are bigger, so if I do have to buy bags, I only have to buy like a quarter as many bags as I was using in the disposable bag days.


The one downside of all this is something I hadn't imagined. Apparently Shop Rite has seen so much grocery basket theft as a result of the bag ban that they've stopped offering grocery baskets at all. It's grocery cart or nothing. That's a pain in the neck on days when I just want a few items, but I can deal with it.

Comments

[sanguinity]

Is THAT why I can't find grocery baskets at Safeway anymore? And that you have to ask at the customer service counter for them? (Apparently; I haven't done so yet.)

[seekingferret]

Probably. Here's an article on NJ Shop Rites: https://foxsportsradionewjersey.com/2022/08/05/aberdeen-shoprite-latest-store-to-remove-hand-baskets-after-rampant-theft/

And here's an article about Safeway from a couple years ago: https://ktvz.com/news/redmond/2020/02/28/bag-ban-fallout-shopping-baskets-disappear-from-redmond-safeway

[chestnut_pod]

It would… literally never occur to me to steal a grocery basket, which I think are the least ergonomic carrying solution ever devised!

[seekingferret]

I kind of want it to turn out that some underworld crime boss has been amassing grocery baskets as part of a monstrous, elaborate criminal scheme. Maybe she has a Ray that turns the baskets into minions.

[scintilla72]

I really hope my local Shoprite never needs to follow suit. I'm basically never there for more than would fit in a basket anyway; I much prefer them to the carts. (though it wouldn't be so bad if one could count on reliably being able to find a small black double-decker cart. there seems to be no consistent place those are stored.)

[starlady]

Damn, I have never heard of anywhere out here instituting a de facto basket ban. The latest innovation is my grocery store selling compostable single-use bags now that the entire state is (notionally) composting.

I love my reusable bag(s) that I carry around, they're so handy for so many situations I wouldn't anticipate.

[lirazel]

If I'm just getting a few things, I tend to just put them in my reusable bag instead of getting a grocery cart. I've never had anyone give me a hard time about it.