Ewww! Germs!

Reusable bags! 


Awesome, right?


That's right, they are awesome.  I'm so excited that I see more and more people out shopping with their reusable bags. 


There's one little thing that people sometimes don't know about their reusable bags, however: you have to wash them.


I'm hoping that seems obvious to you, but a study found that 97% of people don't wash their green bags. The study was awhile ago, but I suspect that there are lots of people out there who haven't started washing their reusable bags, given the number of folks I've seen who keep them in their trunks most of the time.


You have to wash the bags because they can be hosts to food-borne pathogens. Most reusable bags carry more than plastic bags, and so baggers put all kinds of things together in the bags - meat and veggies and cleaners, all in one bag.


The study was funded by the chemical industry - I guess in hopes that they would turn people off from carrying green bags. But really? Just wash the bags in the laundry with your clothes or linens. I'd rather do more laundry than kill sea turtles.