Large reusable shopping bag from The Container Store, $7.99.

CONSUMER CRUSADER | Time to learn a new accronym: BYOB (Bring Your Own Bag). I learned from my feeble attempts to become a shopping bag-reuser that making the switch to BYOB from disposables is hard (read my previous post), so I wrote an article about it that ran in yesterday’s paper. Check it out by clicking here.

I am proud to tell you readers that this weekend I and one of my roommates, succeeded in bringing home a week’s worth of groceries in reusable bags! Not only have I converted myself, but also my three roommates. It also helps that in the process of writing my recent story on this topic, I somehow amassed six reusable shopping bags from different retailers - Whole Foods, Safeway, Half Price Books, Cost Plus, Food Maxx - and a really cute one imprinted with none other than Hello Kitty (yes, the obsession continues).

Anyhow, numerous experts explained to me that in order to shake decades of programming to blindly accept disposable shopping bags, you should try the following:

• Find the right tools. Get some reusable bags that are durable, easy to carry and big enough for all your purchases.
• Find them a home. Make a place in your house or car for your reusable bags. Put them there as soon as you are done using them. Some people suggest hanging them on a door handle, putting them in the glove compartment or trunk or inside a purse (if they fold down).
• Make it a habit. Write it down in your planner. Put it in your Blackberry. Tape a note to the door. Do whatever you need to do and keep trying until it sticks.
• Think outside the grocery store. You should consider always having a big tote on hand for any shopping trip. Let’s face it, few retailers provide bags that are easy to carry or don’t wear out as soon as you walk out the door, so having your bag can be much more practical.

Don’t make excuses, readers. Using reusable shopping bags is easy, convenient and makes you look cool (green is the new black, remember?).