Can't I just do something nice for the environment without messing with my family's health?

I thought keeping a stash of reusable shopping bags in my car would be an easy way to cut back on using plastic bags and household waste. (I mean, come on, you can only keep so many of those things around for litter box cleanups before the pantry is overflowing with plastic!)

But no. It turns out those bags could contain lead, in concentrations that exceed federal limits for kids' toys and paint on consumer products.

Chains including Wegmans and CVS are already recalling bags, and who knows which others will follow. Mine come from so many different places there's no telling which of my groceries are coming home surrounded by lead.

Yet another concern with reusable bags is that bacteria can quickly turn them into a happy little colony. The solution for this, of course, is to wash the bags, which almost completely eliminates the bacteria.

But there's a problem there. Bags with more elaborate illustrations are more likely to contain lead. Over time and during washing, the fibers wear down and the illustrations can flake off, releasing lead and contaminating the rest of your wash.

Some are saying that the reports of lead and bacteria in bags are fear tactics being used by the billions-of-dollars-a-year plastic bag industry. They say plastic makers want us to go back to those trusty disposable bags -- no lead there! And no bacteria build-up, since you throw them away!

Still, there's a pretty easy solution here -- get some lead-free bags.

I easily found some lead-free, washable reusable bags (at a perfectly reasonable price, too) by searching Amazon. And you can always go for cheap, plain canvas bags. Now, if I were really the domestic goddess I sometimes like to pretend I am, I would make my own -- but seriously, who has time for that?

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