[aeternum]

I've thrown away a ton of polypropylene bags because stuff leaked or you just accumulate too many.

Those bags are so thick that throwing away one is like throwing away 500 of the other super thin plastic bags. There's no way the equation makes sense for most people no matter how much we want to believe it.

[matthewdgreen]

I don't think you should throw away polypropylene bags because they got a little dirty. They're easily washable.

That said, the main benefit of these heavier bags is that they tend not to blow out of dumpsters and landfills in the wind, the way thin single-use plastic bags do. A bit of plastic in a landfill isn't great, but entire forests and waterways choked with plastic bags is vastly worse. E.g.,: https://www.frontiersman.com/opinions/spectrum-plastic-bags-...

[erik_seaberg]

A few quick searches suggested that only silicone snack bags are dishwasher safe.

[matthewdgreen]

Why would you wash bags in a dishwasher? Put them in the clothes washing machine on cold. Don't put them in the dryer.

[aeternum]

There's no way the average person is washing their grocery bags in the clothes washer.

Sounds like that could coat your washer with microplastics that might end up in your clothes and against your skin all day. That may not be the best idea.

[matthewdgreen]

Pretty much any synthetic fabric, which includes most fitness wear, is going to fill your laundry and washer with microplastics. However the real problem occurs in the dryer, which heats the stuff and produces dust. Running some relatively solid plastic bags through a washer (only) is probably 999 on a list of 1000 things to worry about regarding microplastics in your home.

As far as what “the average person will do,” I’ve never personally had a hygiene problem with reusable plastic bags that couldn’t be solved with a sponge or a Lysol wipe in 30 seconds. But if the OP is really suffering with large numbers of dirty bags, a gentle wash with detergent is the simplest and most effective answer. At a certain point, it feels like this discussion is more about preferences re: reusable bags and less about trying to solve problems.

[phatfish]

You throw them because something leaked. Why not clean it with a cloth?

I've used the same 3 long lasting plastic bags for the weekly shop for around 4 years now. I take a couple of thinner ones I reuse when just going to get a few things. Ive had some of those for years as well.

I'm in the UK, we went to Canada last year. It was crazy how much disposable plastic i saw walking out the doors of Costco and other large grocery stores. Also, Costco put milk in a plastic bag in Canada! Why not a rigid plastic container that can be recycled?

[crazygringo]

They can just get nasty though.

When the inside has gotten coated with sticky chicken salmonella juices because of a leaking package, and the bottom has gross dirt from sitting on the sidewalk and subway, and the bag is made of a woven plastic so that the juices and dirt seep in...

...it's entirely understandable that you just trash it rather than attempt to clean it. This is what you carry food and fresh produce in, after all.

[phatfish]

Sure if it is horrible it might be necessary, if warm water and disinfectant spray don't sort it out. We have not had our grocery shopping leak that badly that I can remember.

[crazygringo]

It really depends on the supermarket. If they sell the expensive chicken that comes sealed in rigid plastic from the "manufacturer", it doesn't leak. But that's double the price. When you're buying the normal-priced chicken that the supermarket apportions out into those yellow styrofoam trays that they then seal in plastic themselves... ugh. Chicken juice everywhere.

[phatfish]

I see, meat packaging is different in the UK. Styrofoam trays are not used in any major stores, they all use the same rigid sealed containers, even the cheap options.

Butchers cutting meat for you is much less common in store now, those that do have a butchers counter wrap it in a plastic bag which seals it pretty well. Small independent shops might do it differently.

I think in general those styrofoam trays are not used much because they can't be recycled. You still find them used by some takeaway food places though.

[crazygringo]

Funny, in the US it's the opposite. Styrofoam still used for store-prepackaged meat, but I don't think I've seen it used for takeout in over a decade.

[lotsofpulp]

> Why not clean it with a cloth?

How much does it cost to clean the cloth? How much time and effort relative to the cost of the bag?

This is why targeting specific products to reduce consumption is stupid. Just hit all fossil fuels with higher and higher taxes if you want less fossil fuel consumption. Or all products an externalities tax if you want less waste.

[tgsovlerkhgsel]

Because cleaning it is a PITA and I've accumulated dozens of them when I went shopping and didn't have a bag/didn't have enough bags and was forced to buy another heavy "reusable forever" bag because the lighter options were either banned or removed to appear more green.