In my car trunk I leave a square laundry basket. When I grocery shop I toss all the bags into it, when I get home I lift out the basket by the handles and take in the groceries in one trip. Also the basket comes in handy when I buy a lot of flowers to plant, I transport them home in it, no dumped soil mess!
You can get the square lightweight laundry baskets at the dollar store and keep two in the trunk - great idea about just carry the laundry basket to the house with the bags of food in it. We have also kept two or three bond paper boxes with the lids under the box in the trunk - great also for loading the food in them so bags don't go all over the trunk when driving.
I use 2-4 $4 collapsible crates from Walmart for this purpose. I have to carry all my groceries, purchases, laundry up two flights of stairs to my apartment. They "live" in my trunk folded up, take up very little room, don't weigh much (saves on gas), and are easy to toss in the backseat or on the floorboard when I need xtra room in the trunk. Great for warehouse club, thrift store, and garage sale purchases.
I frequently recommend these crates to shoppers in the checkout line, too! I've even seen a shopper who has the bagger at the supermarket load the groceries directly into the crates (no bags!). If you mix lightweight and heavyweight items and distribute them evenly, the crates aren't too heavy.
When they're unloaded and empty, they go right by the front door (along with plastic bags to recycle at supermarket) so I'll remember to bring them back down to the trunk when I leave.
Bonus: These crates also make great temporary containers for sorting items: decluttering and organizing, task baskets for current projects, xtra laundry baskets, packing to move. No cardboard to attract silverfish, easy to clean, no need to store empty containers when you're done with them. I try to use them only for short term stuff so they aren't full when I need to buy groceries.
Linda, you must be strong cuz I'd have a hard time carrying the laundry basket with all my groceries, especially if there were canned goods! Great idea tho! :-)
I have an SUV & I bought collapsable crates online that are great. I store them in the house & then put them in the car when I need to. They weren't expensive at all.
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