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I finally found reusable produce bags I like! This is actually what started my Etsy visits last week, but I wanted to wait for the bags I bought to arrive so I could road test them before writing. Definitely worth the wait. The bags are made from a slightly stretchy netting, they’re feather-light (no extra weight on the scale), and almost transparent when produce is inside (easy for checker or you to read PLU stickers on fruits and veggies). I got mine (pictured) from an Etsy shop called DaisyDots. The drawstring cord color coordinates with the stitching and she offers lots of colors. They were 3 for $6, which I thought was quite reasonable.
There are quite a few Etsy sellers who offer reusable produce bags — all with the nice added benefit of buying something handmade directly from the person who made it, instead of going all mass-produced. Plus, I haven’t seen bags this light commercially.
Today’s mitzvah: Consider buying handmade — and bug your grocery to offer alternatives to the roll of tear-off plastic produce bags.
Photograph © 2008 by DaisyDots.
OK, I have to say it: I love this bag, and the idea behind it. A sustainable burlap pouch unzips to reveal a very soft white organic cotton tote (nice fabric), with some silk screened lettering that suggests CARE package labeling. But it’s also more than a tote: each purchase funds 100 lunches in the UN World Food Programme’s school lunch program in Rwanda.
The bags aren’t super cheap, and this is a Whole Foods-exclusive product (I try not to promote specific companies or stores on the blog, but sometimes the product makes me break my own rules). The cool thing, though: Whole Foods’ goal is to fund the UNWFP’s entire school lunch program in Rwanda for 2008, primarily through the sale of these bags. You can learn more about the program and see bag photos here. The bags are a bit pricey: $29.95 at my local store. But I thougt it was worth it to buy lunch for 100 kids. I’m also considering these as gifts for some upcoming birthdays: a nice combo of a cool tote bag and being able to tell the recipient they just bought lunch for 100 very sweet children. (Of course, I just blew the surprise for friends and family who have summer birthdays!)
Today’s mitzvah: Check out the cool bags. You can also always help the UN World Food Programme at no cost by playing our favorite vocabulary game over at Free Rice.
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Although I like my new Baggus (not pictured) because they’re small enough to keep in my bag and use for shopping trips on the way home from school on the bus — for car trips I’m kinda crazy about the reusable stand-up bags I bought from our local discount grocery (pictured above; click for larger image). They’re too bulky to carry around in a backpack or purse, but for planned trips they work great — square and flat-bottomed, they stand-up perfectly in the back of the Community Car and nothing rolls out. They’re made from recycled 2-liter soda bottles, so that’s cool. And I noticed at least 10 other people using them at the store this afternoon, so they’re definitely catching on. If I were an actual car owner I think I would use these for all the grocery trips.
The Third Thursday in Lent
“Snub plastic bags. Get into the habit of taking your rucksack to the supermarket or go retro with a trolley. Ask your supermarket to remove unnecessary packaging.”Of course, I’m using the British version of the Carbon Fast for Lent just so I can type words like rucksack and trolley . . .
When I learned the local Whole Foods will no longer provide bags when one buys groceries, I had mixed feelings. I actually do re-use all our grocery bags: plastic bags as our trashcan liners, and paper bags for the recycling. But I’m warming to the no-plastic bag concept from an environmental perspective. 
No idea what I’ll do for free trashbags, but I’m on the lookout for cool reusable bags that will fold down very small so I can keep ’em with me (like the Baggu bags pictured here, which fold up into their own neat little pouch. They’re also available on Amazon — if you buy them through Amazon’s link on Nonprofit Shopping Mall, your favorite charity will get a little rebate to boot, in a happy double mitzvah). Any ideas for cool reusable bags? Drop me a line or a link!Today’s mitzvah: All things in moderation. Swap out one or two plastic bags with something reusable (or even better, reusable and recycled) at the next grocery trip.
I finally found reusable produce bags I like! This is actually what started my Etsy visits last week, but I wanted to wait for the bags I bought to arrive so I could road test them before writing. Definitely worth the wait. The bags are made from a slightly stretchy netting, they’re feather-light (no extra weight on the scale), and almost transparent when produce is inside (easy for checker or you to read PLU stickers on fruits and veggies). I got mine (pictured) from an Etsy shop called DaisyDots. The drawstring cord color coordinates with the stitching and she offers lots of colors. They were 3 for $6, which I thought was quite reasonable. 
