On May 4th, the rest of New Jersey gets to do what my Hudson County neighbors and I have been doing since 2019 — put our addiction to single-use plastic bags on hold.
Both Jersey City and Hoboken introduced municipal plastic bag bans in 2019, and Hoboken tightened its policies in 2020. Because I live in one of these cities and shop in both, I’ve lived with a bag ban for the past three years.
With a large plastic bag at home overflowing with other plastic bags, I welcomed it. Even reusing the plastic bags for garbage disposal still left me with a hefty (get it?) surplus. There are new routines to learn, but you can benefit from my bag ban “beta test”.
Buy lots of reusable bags
I’m single and have a dozen reusable plastic and cloth grocery bags and one insulated bag in my collection. It allows me enough bags to switch between the car and home without running into a bag shortage. This should give you an idea of what you need or want.
Try different types of reusable bags
Different bags have a variety of carrying capacities. The most common large heavy plastic shopping bags are the cargo haulers, capable of swallowing bulky and heavy items and carrying a lot. Cloth bags seem to work best as backups.
Both of my prized bags are older Whole Foods canvas bags, which are difficult to pack, but the shape keeps small cans (like the many cans of cat food I buy) from coming loose in the car. You can also buy tiny fabric gussets and mesh bags to fit in your pocket, work bag, or wallet for that sudden, unforeseen stop on the way home.
This pocket-sized tote bag can be there for that unplanned stop at a store after New Jersey’s bag ban went into effect in May 2022.
Not all bags are the same. I’ve had hybrid bags made of fabric and synthetic fibers that have ripped or disintegrated and I avoid buying them.
Supermarkets offer different types of bags at reasonable prices and that’s where I bought mine. I would recommend testing different types of bags early before May 4th.
ABC (Always Wear)
This new, sometimes annoying habit to get into is carrying the bags back into your vehicle after you’ve brought home a load of groceries. It’s a delicate balance of shopping terror. I try to have enough bags in the car for two shopping trips, plus a few spare bags.
Sturdy, heavy-duty plastic shopping bags from department stores are also a good choice to keep in the car as a replacement for your spare bags.
I try to pack the reusable items from the last shopping spree in a bag and leave it outside the front door as a reminder to pack it in the car. With a supermarket within walking distance, I try to balance my stash between the bags I leave at home for hiking/biking and those I have in the car.
Always bring your empty reusable grocery bags back to the car is one of the tips for coping with New Jersey’s bag ban, which begins May 4th.
Always bring more
I can’t stress this enough. If you think four bags is enough, bring five. I call it the just-in-case bag. A few unexpected 2-for-1 sales can quickly fill pockets. There have been a couple of awful trips where I’ve left that spare bag in the car and regretted it.
Cloth bags are best for this as they stow away in the larger bag when not in use and you can use the last of your old pre-ban plastic bags as an emergency spill bag. (Yes, just because plastic bags are banned at checkout doesn’t mean you can’t bring and use the ones you have).
Prepare your bag for the heavy stuff
The better reusable plastic bags have a piece of thicker plastic at the bottom to support heavy items. Without it, the bottom of the bag sags in the middle and scratches on the pavement.
If your bag didn’t come with one, or the plastic piece is too flimsy to support the load, cut a piece of cardboard from any of those Amazon shipping boxes to fit the bottom of your bag. The extra support is especially important when walking to and from the supermarket and helps when walking from the store to the car.
This cardboard insert provides support so this plastic tote bag doesn’t scrap the sidewalk when loaded with groceries.
Get insulated for the summer
Much like a trip to the beach, you need an insulated bag for your cold and frozen groceries when the weather gets hot.
I say that with a caveat: if you have a short commute between the store and your home, you can live without one, except for melt-on-the-melt groceries like ice cream. If you stop to shop in the middle of your commute and still have a 30-minute drive ahead of you, consider purchasing an insulated bag and ice pack. I only use an ice pack on the hottest days.
I have a cheat code if I forget the vacuum bag, which I managed to do as no food poisoning. Load all your cold and frozen groceries into the same bag (or bags) for the trip home. Split the load so you have some frozen items and cold in the same bag. They use the frozen items as ice packs to keep the cold stuff from getting warm.
Pack smartly
I had to learn to pack these bags so all the heavy stuff isn’t in one bag for the sake of my arms and the bag. Half a dozen large cans of tomato sauce might fit in a large, heavy plastic bag, but that doesn’t mean you should.
Luckily I didn’t test the weight capacity of the large plastic reusables. And I don’t want to learn the hard way by taking a break. So I separate my heavy items into bags and fill them up with lighter items.
They also need to isolate fragile items in glass containers or produce them in lightweight but very fragile plastic containers, and pack items sensitive to cold or pressure carefully (I’m looking at you, bananas).
This old Whole Foods fabric grocery bag is in a special cat food service. The shape of the bag makes it difficult to roll out small cans in the car. A bonus – it’s machine washable.
wash them
Your laundry has a new friend. Cloth bags need to be washed regularly, especially after transporting leaking groceries, e.g. B. Poultry. I toss them in with other laundry and let them air dry. Cleaning also extends their lifespan.
Plastic bags can be cleaned with a damp cloth if necessary. Your other new job? Throw away the receipts that collect at the bottom of the bag.
What I hate about the ban
Okay, this is my place to vent. I’m all about using reusable bags and carrying them is quickly becoming a habit.
An annoying aspect is the loss of these disposable bags as small garbage bags or dog waste bags. For years I had to sneak into the suburbs to buy groceries just so I could get a load of free plastic bags. They were my secret stash lining my kitchen trash can.
Now that the nationwide ban is in place, I and people like me will probably need to buy small garbage bags – which have a utility before they end up in landfill, as opposed to my plastic bags which have a double chance of utility
What will my workaround be? That is to be noted.
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Larry Higgs can be reached at [email protected].