I’ve used cotton bags in the past (those made by my mom from leftover fabric) but stopped during the pandemic. But lately I noticed I was using plastic produce bags way too often and had collected a drawer-full (I reuse them for small trash cans and dirty shoes/clothes). It was time to stop to go back to my old (and better) habits. So I picked up these organic cotton mesh produce bags. I love these because they have their tare weights right on the tag (so if you’re buying something particularly expensive (hello nuts), then you can at least subtract the weight of the bag from the overall price). I also love how compactly they fold up (much less bulkier than some of my handmade bags).

These mesh drawstring cotton produce bags are washable, durable, foldable and reusable for grocery or storage. They are 100% GOTS organic cotton and BSCI social compliant.

And for fun, I saved up all the avocado pits from my daily avocado toast+microgreens breakfast to dye some of the mesh bags. So I also have three sets of plant-dyed produce bags for a bit extra. For the avocado dye process, I usually boil the avocado pits (I did try one batch with the skins as well but it turned out a bit more brown than I liked) and then simmer it with the cotton bags for an hourish. Then I leave it in the dye overnight. I wash all the bags afterward to make sure the dye doesn’t run and that’s it. If you’re interested, it’s super easy to do and pretty fun (especially if you have a daughter that looooves pink like mine lol).

As for the bags themselves, they’re quite durable and lightweight—exactly what you would want from a reusable produce bag. And the sizes are great! The largest bag can fit about 3 crowns of broccoli while the medium-sized bag can fit about 4 oranges. The smallest bag is probably best for nuts or herbs.

So for those of you guys who aren’t in the habit yet of carrying around your own produce bags, may I suggest getting some reusable produce bags to wean off of our reliance on plastic even just a little bit more. And of course you don’t have to purchase from the Fairly Curated Shop but I definitely would appreciate the support!