denim

I do this too. I bought four cloth bags long ago. They usually live in the trunk of my car, where they're convinient in case I decide to go food shopping. Around here, they don't charge explicitly for bags, but I really don't like the idea of having the plastic bags I'll generally use once, then toss. I've tried saving them, but I never remember to reuse or recycle them, so they end up in the trash. Wasteful!

The only problem I have with the cloth bags is when they get kinda grungy. I usually just toss them in the washer. That's about the only thing I think may eventually wear them out.

Oh, and regarding the original question, I generally don't want a bag for things like the 20lb container of kitty litter, but then it's got a nice handle of its own. And they don't usually ask me on smaller things.