The main purpose of reusable cloth shopping bags is to cut back on environmental wastes, and the big idea of it is that you'll use them over and over again. Unlike paper or plastic bags, cloth bags are more durable and will last longer to wear and tear. The other bonus is that, if you do use them, the less plastic and paper there is that actually ends up in landfills. Paper bags biodegrade rather quickly, but it requires trees to be cut down to make them. Plastic bags are cheap and mass-produced, but they don't biodegrade easily and can last for dozens of years in landfills. Both paper and plastic bags usually see only a short lifetime of use before they're thrown away. Some people do reuse paper and plastic bags, but once they tear, it's usually the end of their lifespan. Cloth bags are different, because they last much longer than both paper and plastic when it comes to heavy-duty use. An added bonus to fabric bags is that if they tear, a quick stitch can usually mend them and extend their lifespan. It really can't be said that cloth bags aren't mass produced, however. But it's more of a matter of choosing the lesser of two evils. If you buy just one reusable shopping bag, you're keeping one plastic bag out of a landfill each time you use it. And the lifespan of cloth shopping bags can be rather long, so you can get several months, if not years use out of them. It's also true that it does cause some pollution to produce anything. The point of reusable cloth shopping bags is to reduce pollution levels over time. It's a long-term investment for the environment. If you are thinking about switching to cloth shopping bags, be sure to look at the materials the bags are made out of before you purchase them. Only buy bags with low percentages of plastic fabric-like materials like polyester. Say yes to natural, organic materials such as wool or even hemp. Making the switch to anything organic is an investment into the future.

I love using reusable bags at grocery stores. Here are the reasons why:

1) Many stores offer an incentive:

• Trader Joes enters you into a contest for a $25 gift card
• Whole foods gives you .05 or lets you donate .05 to one of two causes

• Safeway (at least here) gives you .03

  These amounts don't sound like much but every bit helps.

2) Less bags around the house or to throw out

I live in a small place. Though you can use plastic bags as garbage can liners - you really only can use so many. So you would have to throw them out. Why not skip getting them in the first place!

3) Grocery store bags aren't as durable

Grocery store bags will rip if overloaded. Generally cloth is much more durable - so you don't have the issue

They are very useful because they are so durable. Their size also allows you to fill them much more than a paper/plastic grocery bag, so you use less bags. The fact that you can use the same bag for any store you shop in really cuts down on the amount of bags wasted.

Cloth shopping bags are extremely useful and help in reducing our carbon footprint and help limit our environmental impact. By using cloth shopping bags, you can avoid using paper or plastic shopping bags, which have a number of different associate drawbacks to constantly utilizing them. The use of plastic bags is a hazard because plastics often take a considerable amount of time to degrade, and additionally, they rip easily. Paper bags are obviously more biodegradable but the slaughtering of millions of trees each year are due to the use of paper bags. Cloth is reusable, sturdy, and thus has minimal environmental impact, so it is most advisable and beneficial for the environment to utilize cloth when shopping.