Seems to me (heh, heh) the cloth bags can simply be thrown in a washer occasionally . . . .
And how much energy, water, chemicals, and drying energy is used in sanitizing them? I know it's hard to parcel out in a regular batch of laundry and it don't look like much, but it ain't zero.
You push in the balloon here and it bulges out there.
Oh, and my time and personal effort ain't zero, neither.
You push in the balloon here and it bulges out there. Ayup.
Look, I ain't against conservation.. What I'm sayin' is you gotta look at the entire energy picture realistically, for example, from harvesting and processing the cotton to the final cloth sack product*, as opposed to drilling the wells and pumping the oil and the energy used in refining the crude to make a plastic grocery bag.
Sound ridiculous? Well, perhaps, but you've got to do some real analysis beyond the benefit of "feeling good" about a conservation measure.
You push in the balloon here and it bulges out there.
Terry, 230RN
* Not forgetting the fact that the cloth sack's energy costs can be amortized out over the number of uses it takes to wear it out.