The use, abuse, and neglect of the Green Bag

Back in the fall when I fell under the spell of the Debbie Meyer Green Bags, I was naive enough to think it foolish that the package of 20 wouldn't last me, well, forever. They could be used up to 10 times each (who was going to count?) and there were 20 of them. I liked them so well, I made sure they, along with the bread, cheese, and cold cuts bags, were given as Christmas gifts.

Six months into the green bag affair, I now know why I'll have to eventually break down and buy more. It is a sad tale, but true. I have abused the bags.

While lettuce and mushrooms keep beautifully in them, there is a time limit on these perishables. It is not forever. Lettuce will get soggy and you don't want to see what mushrooms do when they're left to their own devices at the back of the crisper drawer.

But those faux pas pale in comparison to what happens to onions and red potatoes. Left in the decorative basket with the garlic and green-bagged bananas (in my own defense I must say I haven't lost a banana to overripeness in 6 months, but then we eat them everyday), the onions will get a blue powdery mildew and the potatoes will sprout after, oh, a couple weeks or so.

That's when everything goes to the compost pile and the bags go to the trash and I add 'green bags' to the shopping list.