I LIKE HER! (The person who’s healthy and eats a pint a day). I have a bad ice cream habit myself, and Jeni’s (and Graeters) from Ohio are both favorites of mine.
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Looking for recommendations.
Structured reusable grocery bags that mimic a paper grocery bag - so has the structured bottom, is about the same size, a sturdy handle. Not a wild print. But not a light color like white. Bottom that collapses so they can fold up for trunk. Washable sounds good to me but they didn’t request that feature.
Appreciate any recommendations!
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If you search online for structured grocery bags, there are a lot that come up, many with hard/structured bottoms and foldable handles. Wild prints are optional. Haha! I have a few from local grocery store (they sometimes have promotions), plus a bunch of light-colored canvas ones from Trader Joe’s (which were gifts). We also have a bunch of thin nylon ones that have little to no structure. Canvas bags come in a variety of weights & sizes—all have their uses and wash and wear pretty well.
Also, there’s always the classic LLBean boat & tote that ranges between $25-40. If you search “boat & tote,” there are a slew that come up on Amazon and other places as well, with or without a zipper.
Yes I know I can Google. I’m looking for personal experience/recommendations 
And the LLBEAN totes are nice but do not fit the characteristics I listed. Totally different bag.
I love clevermade collapsible totes.
https://www.amazon.com/CleverMade-30L-EcoBasket-Collapsible-Tote/dp/B0CNBQGVM5/
They make all sizes for different uses. Come with different fabrics (even have one with zip top for refrigerated items. I have several because they are so useful.
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These are great
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Your post cracked me up, as I have about 50 of exactly what you are describing in my car trunk here in France. (Too many, I wish I could send you some!) In France, if you don’t bring a bag (or forget!), you end up buying one. They are sturdy, structured and fold. Anyway, I searched on Amazon US under “European style reusable shopping bags.” Most of what came up is not what you are looking for, but there were some nice-looking ones from a company called the Earthwise Store that might be.
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Whelp, I just picked up a set of the CleverMade ones that @gouf78 posted, and then was looking at what @tkoparent shared and found these:
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Reusable Grocery Bags (3 Pack) – Heavy Duty Reusable Shopping Bags with Box Shape to Stand Up, Stay Open, Fold Flat – Large Tote Bags are Foldable with Long Handles & Hard Bottom (from the Creative Green Life store)
All three have thousands of reviews, with the lowest of the three having a 4.7 rating. And…now I have a set from the Creative Green Life store on the way to me, too.
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We prefer to have bag handles that are cotton rather than polyester. After years, the polyester handles get brittle and fail, even when the rest of the product remains in good shape. It may be related to the UV exposure or simply passage of time.
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So helpful - thanks all!
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This is so funny because it’s for my son in law who likes things “just so” and very useful and practical items. He and my D just returned from France - dang it, they could have picked some up. Lol
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In Colorado too. If you don’t bring your own, you have to buy a paper bag for 10 cents or a store one for about $1 (although they do sell the sturdier ones, but may not be exactly what you want). Plastic bags are no longer available but sometimes take-out food is in a different kind of plastic/pressed paper than we were used to at the grocery store.
I have a million in the car. If I forget, I just repack the food into the cart and then ‘pack’ the bags when I get to the car. My brother doesn’t understand the concept of reusable bags and buys about 10 every time he goes to Walmart so I have a ton of those, but also bags from charity walks, and even a few left from the orthodontist my daughter went to in high school…she’s almost 30!
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There’s an Angel Tree in the mall—one side for SRs and one side for kids. I always go to the SR side because I think it’s awful to be broke and old. The other day, there were a ton of people requesting electric tea kettles, so I bought a whole bunch of them on Amazon as they were a fraction of the price of the ones at the mall. Today, I brought the Proctor Silex kettles to the Angel Tree Table, but there was only one person listed as wanting an electric tea kettle on the table at this time, so they just put the rest of the kettles to the side for when the people who want items have their items purchased and new people are added to the table. I noticed several people wanting cooking utensils & also someone wanting a frying pan. I looked at nearby Macy’s but they wanted $30+ for ONE utensil! I went to Ross and bought an entire set of 10 stainless steel cooking utensils for $9.99 and a set of bamboo utensils with a holder for $6.99 plus a frying pan for $16.99. It made me happy to buy quality items at good prices for all of these SRs. The staff at the table assured me they’d find people for the other electric tea kettles I bought.
Because I found good items at good prices, we can afford to donate more to food bank & other important charities.
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Yep in Massachusetts you pay for them in most places, but in NJ the stores weren’t even allowed to have any one time use bags of any kind to sell you.
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Ditto New York and Connecticut.
Same in NJ, I think they’re $1 if you need to purchase. I do my grocery order online, so once I have 100 or so (get charged $1.50 per order regardless of hoe many I get) we bring them back to get “recycled” or donate them to the local thrift store/food bank.
All stores here in NJ have bags to sell.
No plastic bags anywhere. BUT Target gives free bags all the time in CT. No need to buy any.
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The difference in the bags often has to do with the fabric. Some are made with a more “paper” type fabric which will tear with use and not easily cleanable. The clever made one I like are made of a rip stop nylon polyester which is easy to wipe and lasts a long time. They also have fabric ones. Really have to look close-up in pix to see what you’re getting.
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Trader Joe’s has a fabric version of their paper grocery bags. It’s brown just like the paper bags but is washable.
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