Americans burn through 275 million plastic bags every day. Quite possibly the epitome of our throw away society, multiplying bags are rapidly becoming the scourge of the earth.

So last year, tired of the guilty conscious that hung over her each time she went through the check out line, Kate Parkerson made the switch to reusable sacks. The problem she had to overcome, of course, was actually remembering the reusable bag — not only to put it in the car, but also take it in the store. The trick was finding the right bag, said Parkerson, who works for the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee in Franklin. For Parkerson, it was a sturdy but lightweight nylon bag that collapses into a stuff sack and tucks in her purse.

“I hated that I was not a person who remembered their canvas bags,” Parkerson said. “This makes me love myself. I actually do it because it sticks right in my purse. I whip that bag right out and say ‘I have my own bag.’”

In Waynesville, Ed Kelley is trying to follow the example of his wife, Jo, who is far better at remembering their stash of canvas bags than he is.

“When I don’t, I’m like ‘Darn, why didn’t I bring those bags?’” Kelley said. The other day Kelley was caught at Ingles sans bags. Looking around, he spied a cardboard box at the front of the store, scooped it up and carried it about the isles like a shopping basket, eventually taking it through the check out line.

Kelley was again caught without his bags on an errand run last week to Staples and the auto supply store, so he fell back on the tried and tested two-hand method.

“I am becoming more and more conscious of refusing the bag any time I can carry something,” Kelley said. If he’s not quick enough, the clerk will bag his measly one or two items before he can decline, so he plucks his items back out of the bag.

Cecil Yount of Waynesville has his own trick to remember the bags.

“We put them on the doorknob so you can’t get out of the house without seeing them,” Yount said. “That is part of the learning curve. You have to develop some discipline.”

No one’s perfect, of course, but it’s made a huge difference.

“I imagine we have reduced at least by 90 percent the number of plastic bags we carry out of stores,” Yount said.

Brandy Baudrand of Swain County has her own trick for remembering the bags.

“Every time I am done unloading my groceries, I take them back out to the car,” Baudrand said. “It’s something you have to totally train yourself to do.” When she occasionally forgets and leaves them on the floor board of the car and is trapped at the check out line without them, she loads the loose groceries into the cart and transfers them to her bags when she gets back out to the parking lot.

Baudrand made the switch to reusable bags a couple years ago.

“Just going to stores and seeing the amounts of plastic bags that are taken and thrown away, it’s crazy really,” said Baudrand, who works at Endless River Adventures rafting company in the Gorge. “It is really appalling.”

Baudrand has built up quite the collection of canvas bags, many bought randomly at thrift stores, including a Franklin Middle School volunteer bag — which she isn’t — and a Bahama’s bag — where she’s never been.

Jeff Henderson, the manager of Ingles in Waynesville, has seen an upswing in people using their own bags over the past year. Ingles sells standard canvas bags, plus an insulated line for cold items.

Those who belong to the reusable sack clique have noticed their growing ranks.

“More and more people are using their own bags,” Parkerson said.