Are Reusable Bags Hurting Your Health?

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - More and more people are using reusable bags instead of paper or plastic.

It's all in an effort to help the environment, but in doing so, are you hurting your health?

Do you think you know what kind of food people who use reusable grocery bags are buying?

"Well I try to buy healthy. I had a heart attack in 2013 and so I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables," one woman said.

"I try to buy on the healthy side but it's too expensive," another woman said.

Now, a new study finds organic and healthier food isn't the only stuff people are putting in those bags.

"They were also more likely to put an indulgence in their basket, and we defined indulgence as cookies, ice cream, and potato chips," Uma Karmarkar, of the Harvard Business School, said.

In other words - junk food.

A Harvard researcher studied the habits of shoppers when they came armed with their own bags, and compared them to when they didn't.

She found people were more likely to pick up a bag of chips, box of cookies or pint of ice cream if they had their reusable bags with them.

Why?

It's called moral licensing. Experts say we all do it subconsciously.

"One good thing liberates you, in the sense, it gives you a license to engage in something that's not all that great," Dr. Ritesh Saini said.

One example would be eating a piece of pizza or cake after a big workout.

"Seems like we are keeping some kind of a mental clock ticking in our mind and we are giving ourselves positive or negative brownie points," Dr. Saini said.

Since it's our subconscious at work, most of us don't even realize we're doing it.

Experts say there's not really a good solution to the problem. It all just boils down to sheer willpower.

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