You can buy reusable bags or take your own, the total amount of stuff I can carry really doesn't vary. Say I go to the grocery store thats easiest to get to here, its a 30 minute bus ride there, 10 minute walk from the bus stop, buy groceries, then I have to walk 10 minutes back to the bus stop, wait 30+ minutes for the bus to come along, get on the over packed tin can ($5 fare, might I add) take the 30 minute ride back home, walk back up my apartment- which by the way is 5 flights of stairs to get to my second floor apartment, because everything is on a hill in Portland. So really, reusable bags- other than usually being a little sturdier and with a handle- really don't change the amount of stuff that I can carry. Portland is also the very worst city I've ever been in as far as service anywhere. There can be 500 people in the store and they will only have one cashier, and don't buy produce because they won't know the code, you actually plant seeds and grow your own apples in the amount of time that it will take to get a price on that.