Grocery Shopping in Germany 101: Lesson 1 -- Shopping Bags

I've been meaning for a while to blog about what it's like to go food shopping in Germany, but it was such a daunting task, I kept putting it off.  This is the part of my life here in Germany that has taken the most effort over the last two years and I had so much to say.  I finally realized that if I broke all the information down into smaller pieces, it seemed like a less intimidating undertaking.

Our first lesson will be all about shopping bags.  This would have been a much more interesting lesson if I were writing it five years ago.  What an American notices right away in a German grocery store is that people bring their own reusuable shopping bags or baskets -- pretty much unheard of in the U.S. until the past few years.  The U.S. is starting to imitate Europe in this respect, but I still thought shopping bags deserved a mention.

In preparation for our stay here in Germany, my good friend Valerie gave me a canvas tote bag.  She had lived in Germany for three years and knew I would need a shopping bag.  And what could be better or more appropriate than a bag featuring quotes from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice?

You see, here in German grocery stores, and I imagine in most European grocery stores, you pay for those little plastic shopping bags at the register.  As a result, most people use some kind of reusuable shopping bag or basket.  At most other stores, such as clothing stores, department stores, book stores, etc., you get bags for free with your purchase. 

At first I was peeved by all this.  After all, I was a wasteful American consumer and every food shopping trip ended with me stashing away 12-15 little wasteful plastic bags.  But I reused every one of those little wasteful plastic bags, often as little trash can liners.  I have since learned that I can line a little trash can here with a plastic bag and as long as that bag doesn't get yucky, I can keep that same bag in the trashcan for a few months.  Back home, we were just throwing away  plastic bags every week on trash day -- and times 4 or 5 little trashcans, well, that adds up.  It is needlessly wasteful.

For the first month or so here, I was being very German and walking to one of the local grocery stores every day with my 2 or 3 canvas tote bags and buying a day's worth of food, which was just what I could manage to carry.  But think about it -- food for a day for 6 people.  That means, milk, jogurt, snacks for lunch boxes, food for dinner, etc. every day.  Then a loaf of bread, a box of cereal, a package of cheese, juice boxes, etc. every other day.  It was a chore.  Plus I would freak out if someone ate or drank a little something extra.  "Don't eat those pretzels!  They're for the kids' lunches tomorrow!"  "Only half a glass of milk at dinner for everyone! We're running low and we need milk for cereal in the morning!"  "I can't believe you all ate that little package of cookies!  Now what am I supposed to give you for snack in your lunch boxes tomorrow?"

I just wasn't willing to go through all this every day for 3 years.  Most Germans go food shopping every day or every other day, but most German families do not have four kids.  There were 3 grocery stores within a five-minute walk from home, but none were what we would think of as a big American supermarket where you can find everything.  You just couldn't guarantee that you would find what you needed on any given day.  There have been times I have walked into one of the stores near us and there has been no eggs or no chicken or no milk. I then would walk to the other two stores, and would be very lucky indeed if I found eggs, chicken or milk there.

I asked around and found out about Real, Germany's answer to SuperWalmart.  After my initial visit, I figured I could do a weekly shopping trip there, but I would need more shopping bags.  What to do?

I did what you see many other people doing:  reusing plastic shopping bags from other stores.  Just imagine that you go shopping at your local Publix or Kroger and at the register, you whip out a big J.C. Penney bag, a Target bag, a Barnes and Noble bag, a Gap bag...etc.  That was what I did for 1-1/2 years.  The bags were unwieldy, and ripped over time, but I managed.

During our trip to France last spring, our friend Sally showed me her store brand shopping bags and I vowed to get some of my own.  They are large, sturdy bags that made carrying enough groceries to feed a family of 6 for a week into the house that much easier.  Grocery stores, drugstores and other stores here sell their own brand of sturdy shopping bags for about $1.50 a bag.  What a bargain!  I like this bag from Real because it features a German computer keyboard with accents and that funny B, which stands for "ss".

I picked up the elephant bag in a grocery store in London and the Parc Astérix bag at, of all places, Parc Astérix, a French amusement park.

Yesterday at Real, in the section of the store where independent merchants can set up shop for a week (purses/wallets, wooden toys, clothing, etc.), a woman had a large display of different types of shopping baskets.

You see more people carrying baskets around a store than the store brand of shopping bags.  These collapsible baskets are popular and stylish. And remember, people usually buy just enough food for one or two days, so such a basket is all you need.  No need to even get a shopping cart as you make your way around the store.

I couldn't pass up buying a traditional basket at the lovely display and asked myself if I would think to use it in the U.S.  I very well could get some funny looks in the Kroger, but people look so charming walking down the street and around stores with these lovely baskets.