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NEW YORK (AP) — May 20, 2025 — Reusable totes have quietly taken over American homes, stacking up under kitchen sinks, spilling out of pantries and multiplying through freebies. With a dozen U.S. states banning single-use plastic shopping bags and numerous cities charging fees on carryout, more households than ever are stocking reusable bags — yet organizers say most families only need a handful. The fix is simple: keep a few sturdy bags, use them regularly, and donate the rest to food banks, thrift stores and community groups.
Britnee Tanner, a professional home organizer in Salt Lake City, says she finds the same scene in nearly every kitchen she tackles: bags stuffed under sinks, wedged into corners and crammed onto shelves. "They just are sneaky," she said. Bags show up that the owners swear they never bought.
The usual sources are no mystery. Conference registration tables, grocery store promotions and fundraising drives all hand out totes. Even people who think of themselves as careful shoppers can end up with a surprising stash — a 5K race, a bank promotion, an alumni event and a loyalty program can each add a bag without anyone making a deliberate purchase.
Households rarely decide to collect them; they simply accumulate until a cupboard door won't close.
The original shift to reusable bags came from a real problem. Conventional plastic grocery bags become windblown litter, clog storm drains and break into microplastics. Twelve U.S. states now ban them at checkout, and many cities have added bag taxes of their own.
But reusable bags are not impact-free. Growing cotton takes water, producing polypropylene takes petroleum, and shipping heavier totes takes fuel. The key question, researchers say, is how many times a bag is used before it's thrown away.
Shelie Miller, a sustainability scientist at the University of Michigan, says the environmental benefit shows up only when bags are reused for a long time. "You want well-loved reusable items," she said, not an overflowing closet. The number of uses needed to offset a bag's production varies by material: a heavy canvas tote generally carries a larger footprint than a thin polypropylene one, so it needs more uses to break even. Miller's conclusion is simple: keep and use the bags you already own.
Environmental economist Kimberly Oremus leans on her favorites for up to a decade. When a bag finally wears out, she routes it to a textile recycling center instead of the trash. And when she forgets her totes at the store, she asks for an empty cardboard box. "If you forget it, it's not the end of the world," she said.
Tanner's method for overcrowded cupboards begins with a full audit. Dump every tote from every hiding spot — the car, the pantry, the laundry room — into one pile. Then choose the finalists.
Tanner asks clients to think about how many trips they make in a typical week. A family of four doing two grocery runs, a library visit and a school lunch rotation might only need five or six bags in total. Everything beyond that is redundant.
Look for bags with sturdy straps, intact seams and a size that matches your shopping routine. Assign each one a role: one for groceries, one for library books, one for lunches, one for the gym. Bags with specific jobs get used far more often than an anonymous stack in the pantry.
After each use, put the bag back in its designated spot, whether that's the car trunk or a hook by the back door. That habit stops them from wandering back into the mess.
A simple rule keeps the pile from rebuilding: one bag in, one bag out. Every time a new tote arrives — from a conference swag table or a store giveaway — one existing bag moves to the donation pile.
Another useful tactic is keeping a donation bin by the front door. When a bag gets swapped out, it goes straight to the bin until the weekly drop-off, rather than lingering in a drawer for months.
Bags that are still in decent shape have plenty of valuable destinations. Tanner brings her extras to thrift stores. Las Vegas Books, a used bookstore in Nevada, accepts totes and hands them to customers who need a carryout. The Burbank Animal Shelter in California uses larger bags to hold pet food, toys and other care supplies.
The Community FoodBank of New Jersey has collected reusable bags since 2022 to give to people visiting its food pantries. President Elizabeth McCarthy asks only that donated bags be reasonably clean and free of rips. "They're always something that our pantries need," she said. Calling ahead before dropping off a large number of bags is a good idea, since some organizations have limited storage space.
Neighborhood Buy Nothing groups and Facebook "free" pages are also a fast way to re-home a stack of totes in a single morning. Schools, churches and community gardens often take them for take-home programs. Torn or stained bags can go to textile recycling centers; curbside recycling programs generally won't accept them.
Once your home has the right number of bags, a few habits keep it that way:
Miller's framing is worth remembering: the most sustainable reusable bag is the one that gets used, again and again. A household with three well-loved totes does more for the planet than a household with thirty that never leave the closet. Fewer bags, used well — and a kitchen that doesn't burst every time you open the cupboard.
