UPDATE: I've used these bags for several trips now, and I've stopped using my other ones entirely. These bags hold a LOT of groceries. I went in with four of them today and told the bagboy to use paper when he ran out of room in the Envirosax bags. I had a lot of groceries, too. One bag was full, two were lightly packed, and the fourth was empty! Very, very nice bags! I don't bother rolling them back up; I just tuck them all into one of the bags and leave it in the car to grab and go.

I've been using the reusable bags that clip onto the sides of a grocery cart (two to three to a cart) for a year now, combined with a hodgepodge of different reuseable bags, including cloth produce bags, freebie canvas bags, and Acme Workhorse bags. I'm going to compare these Envirosax bags to my Acme bags--the ones that are like plastic bags but are made out of ripstop nylon--but first let me share my experience with reusable bags in general.

I use the cart bags to figure out what will fit into the bags I have. I'll fill them up in the cart, carefully balancing products based on weight and smushability, so theoretically the bagger could repack the bags the way I did and I could then walk out without having to use any paper or plastic bags at all. Well, it never works that way. There is always confusion at the checkout counter. Nine times out of ten, I wind up with far too much weight in one of the bags, which strains the seams and has busted out the bottom of a few of my cart-clip bags. The bagger will be asking me if he can put something into a plastic bag as I'm trying to empty out a bag to give him to keep packing with. I buy a lot of groceries at one time, so this may not be as big of a problem for those who don't.

The answer, I realize, is to use smaller bags within the larger bags that can be quickly emptied and repacked, perhaps with one bag held empty to hand to the bagger up front, before any other bags are emptied. As I write this, this sounds really confusing, even with me being able to see it in my mind's eye, so forget what I said. But if you've ever tried to shop with reuseable bags, you probably kind of know what I mean.

Anyway, first, the Envirosax are going to be perfect for this bag-in-bag purpose. They are about the width of the cart; two or three, depending on how full I pack them as I shop, will fit inside my cart bags. (If I didn't already have the cart bags, I would just sit them in the cart; five would fill up the cart, for sure.) (Of course, if I didn't so enjoy being such a control freak, I'd just load up my cart and hand all the empty bags to the bagger! To each her own....)

Now, to compare the Envirosax with the Acme Workhorse bags. The Acme bags are designed to fit over the plastic bag holder for efficient bagging. I doubt the Envirosax would work as well for that because of their larger size, but that's the only thing the Acme bag has over the Envirosax. The Envirosax bags are (I'd say) about a third to half again as large as the Acme bags. The fabric of the Envirosax appears stronger, and so do the seams. Both are double-stitched, but the Envirosax stitching is better. Both are made in China (natch). I think before I use mine too much, however, I'm going to take the time to further reinforce the seams by slip-stitching them along the folded side seam, which will REALLY make them strong. I tend to overload my bags, so I'm just protecting my investment.

Knowing me, I'm not likely to bother much with folding these back up to put into the little carrying case, but the case is very nice and tiny and would certainly fit tidily into a glove compartment, briefcase, or purse. Each bag, too, has a neat little band with snap closure to keep them rolled up when not in use. I'll probably just throw mine inside my cart bags as I put groceries away and keep it all by the door. I've been fairly good about taking my bags with me, but those who need extra help will find the Envirosax pouch to be a great boon.

Oh, and they look super-fashionable, too, if you're into that sort of thing. The handles are long enough to sling over a shoulder, so they can double for all sorts of things, not just groceries.