Green Grocery Bags can carry countless bacteria

[pam]

For those of you trying to go green to help out the environment...something to think about and some words of advice.

ksl.com - Green grocery bags can carry countless bacteria

[Blackmarch]

For those of you trying to go green to help out the environment...something to think about and some words of advice.

ksl.com - Green grocery bags can carry countless bacteria

Maybe throw them in the washing machine when you get them and after you use them?

[pam]

Maybe throw them in the washing machine when you get them and after you use them?

Well if you read the article it does say to wash with hot soapy water quite frequently.

[Gwen]

good thing i use the blue ones. lol

actually i don't use them. i recycle the plastic. instead of spending money on small plastic bags i use store bags. bathroom trash cans, car trash bags, to wrap diapers in so the whole room doesn't smell, etc.

i also wish they would have tested the plastic bags too. i bet those are not as clean as we think. lol

[Dravin]

Pretty much every surface you come in contact with carries countless (depending on your definition of countless I suppose) bacteria. Heck, the bacterial load of your keyboard you are sitting in front of reading this would probably make most germaphobes queasy. If you don't mind looking at your keyboard in horror take a read of this: Keyboard "Five Times Filthier Than Toilet Seat"

I get amused by a lot of the "Oh no! Bacteria was found on something!" responses you sometimes get. Not only are you going to find bacteria crawling over everything you own, it is crawling all over your skin as we speak, not to mention your insides*.

* Yes, I'm aware not all bacteria carry equal potential for illness.

Edited November 23, 2010 by Dravin

[DigitalShadow]

I would be willing to bet the shelves at the store containing the food are even worse for bacteria. If it comes from a store and doesn't have outside packaging, wash it thoroughly before eating... seems like common sense.

If you really want to see a shocking amount of bacteria, swab your keyboard (you know, the thing you're typing at right now).

Edit: Dravin beat me to it.

[Jenamarie]

Meh. Bacteria is everywhere. I'm with Dravin with not really understanding the hullabaloo made about bacteria being found on something. Bacteria has been and always will be a part of our lives. I wash my hands when they're dirty and after I use the restroom, and before preparing a meal, and that's it. I don't carry a pocket-sized handsanitizer in my purse like I see many moms in my area doing, pulling them out before and after each activity they and their children do (seriously, it seems to be almost a bit OCD for many of them). Infact, the only non-hot-soap-and-water sanitising lotions and wipes we have in our house are in our 72 hour kits. And I don't think me or my children get sick any more often than any other family, even with having a DH who works in a hospital, with the ICU and ED departments as part of his regular duty-area. (he doesn't work directly with patients though)

[prospectmom]

Our bodies are ment to handle bacteria and in fact when we go to far the other way pn trying to protect us from it we end up getting sicker than those of us who do not freak out about dirt and germs.... I am not saying don't wash your hands often and use kleenex but we should concentrate on keeping a healthy immune systom (sp) and we will be less bothered by bacteria

[Iggy]

Maybe throw them in the washing machine when you get them and after you use them?

Did that after I removed the cardboard bottom- they fell apart! Now I soak them in the kitchen sink or bathtub in a small amount of laundry deterget and bleach. Push them around in the soapy water, let them soak for 15- 30 minutes, then spray rinse them. I then hang them from the bottom to air dry.

I have 18 bags - When I grocery shop- I SHOP!!! If someone has a pattern for cloth bags that are the same size as the paper grocery bags, I sure would like it. I would make my own out of unbleached muslin (found in paint stores as muslin drop cloths), then I can toss in the machine and dryer.

What started me washing them was my meat leaking blood - and a bottle of vinegar leaking. Pew what a mess.

[prospectmom]

Cut out a paper bag and use as a pattern just allow alittle more for seams and make the handles go the entire bag both sides and bottom

[Wingnut]

My bags have care instructions in them -- hand wash only.

[Blackmarch]

Did that after I removed the cardboard bottom- they fell apart! Now I soak them in the kitchen sink or bathtub in a small amount of laundry deterget and bleach. Push them around in the soapy water, let them soak for 15- 30 minutes, then spray rinse them. I then hang them from the bottom to air dry.

I have 18 bags - When I grocery shop- I SHOP!!! If someone has a pattern for cloth bags that are the same size as the paper grocery bags, I sure would like it. I would make my own out of unbleached muslin (found in paint stores as muslin drop cloths), then I can toss in the machine and dryer.

What started me washing them was my meat leaking blood - and a bottle of vinegar leaking. Pew what a mess.

Yikes!.

Lol good to know about that.

(I havent gotten into using the reusable bag trend yet)

[pam]

Yikes!.

Lol good to know about that.

(I havent gotten into using the reusable bag trend yet)

Me either because I use the plastic bags for so many different things. I need those bags. :)

[Iggy]

Me either because I use the plastic bags for so many different things. I need those bags. :)

I used to use them, until they made them so cheaply- the bottom seam is not as secure as they were a couple of years ago, there is always a hole smack in the middle! Getting $.05 back per bag BROUGHT IN TO USE helps too. May not seem like a lot- .05 X18 = $0.90 off the grocery bill at the first store. Add it all up over a years time, it helps with the budget.

Plus not having all those plastic bags ending up in the landfill!

I almost ended up in a nasty car accident because the plastic bags of groceries slid around on the back seat, oranges & some large cans of Ready-To-Eat soup rolled out and got wedged under my brake pedal. I ended up driving on the sidewalk and really SLAMMING on the brakes- squished the orange and exploded the soup.

This was before the Green Bags. I got plastic totes to hold the plastic bags of groceries. Made it a lot easier to haul in the groceries. Another reason I quit with the plastic bags is a kitten I had nearly suffocated when she got tangled up in one. By the time I got to her and untangled her, she had peed & pooped all over herself and the bag/floor and was traumatized by the crinkle of plastic bags for the remainder of her life.

I still use the plastic totes. Smallish ones for the heavy canned goods, larger ones for every thing else. If I am going to get a lot of frozen goods I also have several ice chests to use, though now that I am not in Arizona- I won't need the ice chests.