A growing minority of Americans are now using reusable tote-style bags in place of paper or plastic for their grocery shopping purchases. We got into the habit when we lived in the Netherlands on 2001-02, where everyone carries their own bag because each plastic bag from the store would set you back 20 eurocents.

At this point, our reusable shopping bags are a sort of mishmash of canvas bags we've collected over the years - some that I just adore, some that were free, and some that I bought 15 years ago when finding a reusable bag still entailed a massive search and was pretty much limited to those string bags that I find only work so-so for most groceries. The latest step that we've been experimenting with is using cloth bags for our produce and bulk food purchases - you know, bags to replace the disposable bags you end up putting in your reusable bags for some of those items you just don't want floating around when you're buying a lot of stuff.

Not wanting to waste plastic, I have never put things like plums or apples in a bag, but I do admit that I sometimes cringe when I put them on the conveyor belt after another customer has loaded it up with leaky packages of meat and I'd love to have enough to be able to bag those items up as well. There are also some smaller items - mushrooms, shallots, hot peppers - that it's just more convenient to have a bag for. Produce can be unbagged to weigh it at the checkout counter, and any earth-friendly bulk food section should have a "tare" or "zero" button where you can weigh your packaging first if you aren't using their disposable plastic bags.

I'm not sure why it never occurred to me to have reusable bags for my produce and bulk items. When we lived in San Francisco, we often refilled our own bottles with spices or oils, but I never made that leap to the idea of using reusable bags for bulk-aisle and produce purchases.

But after the recent renovation of our kitchen we've put everything (and I do mean everything) into glass jars, which not only adds a little Martha Stewart to our kitchen but to encourages us to make bulk food purchases rather than buying pre-packaged items. I was a little wary of using cloth bags for bulk foods at first, afraid that something like nutritional yeast or seeds would come pouring out of the gap in a drawstring closure. But really, they've worked quite well.

Since we empty the bags into jars when we get home anyway, we don't have to worry about having enough bags to store and shop with. We've used our bags for everything from nuts to green beans and onions and I have to say, I can't wait until my collection is large enough that I don't have to use any plastic bags at all. We'll need somewhere between 10-20 to really be covered.

This will ultimately involve making some of our own - here's a great tutorial for making your own mesh produce bags, if you'd like to go that route. As for me, I like variety and eccentricity, so I'll probably continue to buy a few here and there as well as making some homemade ones. Every bag tells a story!

Here are some of our favorite reusable bags that have stood up to washing and drying (yes, I just toss them in the washer and dryer!):

• GardenSac Reusable Produce bags: these have been my favorite bags for large produce. $4.95 for 2 bags on Amazon.com


• Green Kit Produce Bags: for the fashion conscious, these bags are so cute and work great. $6 apiece for prints, and blanks are $3.50 each/4 for $12/10 for $25 at Green-Kits.com


• Bag Green: also very cute, offered in limited edition designs. $14 for 4 bags

Happy Earth Day!