Although we often use reusable bags at the grocery story, I prefer the meat in plastic bags. That’s OK because I have a stash of those too (from other stores and for when I forget to bring in my own bags).
The reason you do not feel virtuous about it is you are not confusing “recycling” with “additional use” and “repurposing.” which so many are doing on this thread.
We repurpose all sorts of things automatically simply because it is more convenient and a better use of money. Why take the time and money to buy plastic trash bags or separate kitty litter bags when you already have generic plastic bags? That would be a waste of resources.
In order for recycling to be truly a savings program, it has to reduce the amount of something that is considered toxic. You are correct in that your use of the plastic bags for kitty litter has not changed the amount of plastic bags you use after the tax was put in place. Thus, on an individual level, the tax has zero effect on your use of plastic, which means the tax failed in its objective. Now, multiple the same effect across millions of people before and after the tax and, walla, no change in use of plastic bags.
Trash has to be thrown out one way or the other, and that is done mostly in plastic bags, wherever the bags come from. Therefore, the only way to reduce plastic bag usage is to reduce the amount of trash, but it seems people are having a difficult time figuring that out. Note that the tax does noting to reduce the amount of trash that people discard, so it fails absolutely in what it really needs to do to reduce use of plastic bags. It is just another money collection scheme, no two ways about it.
There are plenty of articles on a study that showed that a high percentage of reusable bags were contaminated with E. Coli. People rarely wash them. However, this has not been shown to have caused any outbreaks of illness.
Ultimately, the best way to ‘go green’ is to buy less and consume less. Then less goes to the landfills whether now or later.
I’m not using the bags for kitty litter because of the tax. I’m using the bags for kitty litter because I have kitty litter. My point, I guess, is that I don’t see how reusing plastic bags does any good at all–using them twice is about the same as using them once. But really, what else can I do with the kitty litter? And if I need them for the second purpose is it okay to acquire them for the first purpose?
Those reusable bags are gross. Chicken one time, veggies the next. They look dirty and unsanitary. It’s a feel good tax to make people feel superior and smug but the reality it isn’t going to save the planet or change my behavior.
Would you really put chicken into your reusable bags without first putting it into a thin plastic liner that is provided right there where the chicken is located? Most people use those liners anyway, regardless of whether they ask for plastic at the checkout or bring their own bags. And why would you not wash your reusable bags?
Still waiting for links to studies in support of the statement that reusable bags are the source of the uptick in food-borne illnesses…
Again, if the store gets to keep the bag charge, it is not a tax… 
I put my meat in the thin plastic bags and my veggies in the thin plastic bags - then everything goes in my reusable S - which I wash out once a week.
Yes, the store keeps the money but what they really want to do is encourage people to use reusables instead. If I forget to bring a bag with me to the store I always ask for a paper one. At least those are biodegradable and can be go into my recycling bin with all the other paper.
I like the way Whole Foods does it now in NYC. If you bring your own bags, you get 10 cents off your bill. It’s silly…but I feel as if that rewards good behavior rather than penalizing “bad” behavior. Trader Joe’s has a raffle. I’ve never won but I enter every week. Most of the stuff I buy is wrapped anyway.
The best though is the compost program. I put my food garbage–not including dairy, fish or meat–in a paper bag and bring it to the Green Market. Our local one collects more than a ton of compostable garbage a week. It’s turned into soil.
BTW, paper bags don’t help. They weigh more than plastic and can’t be scrunched up the same way. So, delivering them to a supermarket uses more gasoline and takes up more space on trucks, making it necessary to use more trucks. In other words, they add pollution to the air and waste gasoline.
In the California town I live in, plastic bags are outright banned, and paper bags cost 25 cents each.
@simba9 I live in SoCal, but I thought it was all of California? In any case, it’s easy-peasy for me to keep a few canvas bags in the trunk of my car, and although I forgot to get them initially, at this point it’s automatic to grab them as I head to the supermarket. Hopefully that’s a few less sea turtles that due after choking on floating plastic bags they thought were jellyfish!
These laws are usually passed in cities, not in the burbs. City folk generally don’t drive their own car to do groceries. I live in a city, and 9 times out of 10 , I do my groceryshopping on foot. If I’m doing it on the way home from work, i don’t have my sturdy own shopping bags w me.
http://www.amazon.com/Anseahawk-Assorted-Strawberry-Shopping-Reusable/dp/B014MFA2TW
Clearly, someone traveling on foot is not going to be able to carry a trunkload of groceries, but a couple of these fit-in-your-palm (and purse or pocket) beauties can carry more than 5 flimsy plastic bags. The alternative is to let the store keep 5 cents per bag. 
I lived in Germany in the 80s. You had to pay for plastic bags. I learned to have a net bag with me most of the time. If I forgot, I bought a bag. No biggie. Seriously you don’t have to have some dainty little purse with no room for a bag.
I carry a WOC (it is pretty dainty by bag standards). There is plenty of room for a neatly folded nylon shopper inside - because I do not carry makeup in it. Plus, the shopper works as a purse shaper for me.
In my region of California, plastic bags are illegal and paper bags cost money. I have found that paper makes just as good a trash receptical as plastic, except freestanding instead of being used as a liner.
Here are the health concern links:
http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2010/06/reusable-shopping-bags-and-food-safety/#.Vy7wvmNvetA
https://www.cdph.ca.gov/pubsforms/Documents/fspnu04ReusableBags.pdf
This has about the same number of instructions as did the list stating how to safely clean up after a CFL broke - and dispersed it’s mercury into the air. ~X(
https://recipeland.com/news/reusable-grocery-bags-bad-for-e-154
Wait, what? I use a collection of free tote bags from conferences as grocery bags, and I do keep them in the car, and I’ve never washed them.
The food is either in boxes (like cereal or crackers) or in those green plastic bags (fruit and veggies) or wrapped up in plastic and paper (deli meats, seafood). Every now and then a stray apple falls out of its plastic bag, but other than that raw food is not touching the bag. And every now and then I do use these bags for other uses, like for clothing or books. This sounds totally ridiculous to me. No one in my family has gotten sick yet, and I have no intention of washing them with bleach and hot water after every use. (But then again, I’m one of those people who don’t thoroughly wash their fruits and vegetables with soap and I’m still eating turkey a week after Thanksgiving).
Dietz, those are policy recommendations based on common sense and description of potential scenarios. The poster claimed that reusable bags were to blame for the increase in illnesses caused by food-borne bacteria. Not the same thing! So I am still waiting for links to support that statement.
@BunsenBurner, I don’t live a city but my kids do and they all use reuseable bags. Here’s a great deal for the ones I use 24/7 https://store.sierraclub.org/new-eco-chic-reusable-shopping-bags-p172.aspx As an empty nester, it’s not that common for me to get bags and bags of food anymore, but when I do it’s at Costco or BJ’s where no bags are provided anyway.
I remember when they were making the switch from paper bags to plastic bags about 20 years ago, plastic bags were touted as being more environmentally-friendly than paper bags. With paper bags, you had to cut down trees, and substantial energy and water was needed in their manufacture. And while it wasn’t a big issue at the time, the production of paper bags released a relatively large amount of carbon dioxide into the air.