Thursday, January 24, 2008

BYOB

Decatur Metro recently mentioned that Whole Foods will be eliminating the use of plastic bags (officially beginning on Earth Day, April 22) only a few months after Ikea started charging its customers for using their non-reusable plastic bags. I'm glad this trend is finally catching on in Atlanta - other cities like San Francisco and Oakland have banned plastic bags completely.

The local Publix and Krogers sell reusable bags, but I doubt they'll be following Whole Foods anytime soon. Still, there's no doubt that it's in everyone's best interest to start bringing bags with them to the store. I have a huge stash of tote bags in the trunk of my car with the intention of never using plastic again (I'll admit that once in a while I'll run to the grocery store for a quick errand and forget to bring a tote with me).

For those of you who don't already have a huge collection of tote bags, below is a (incomplete) beginner's guide to reusable bags.

Anya Hindmarch's affordable I'm Not A Plastic Bag bag was seen on every celebrity's shoulder last fall and sold out in a matter of minutes at participating Sainsburys in the UK.From left to right: Purchase Lauren Bush's Feed Bag for $60 and feed a child for one full year. For his Spring 2007 RTW Louis Vuitton line, Marc Jacobs slapped a stamp on the classic market bag (available for purchase at your local Chinatown) and increased the price tag by roughly 1,000 percent. One of Trader Joe's reusable bags for purchase. This one is especially nice because of its cheery graphics and large, circular base.
Join the movement at BringYourOwnBag.com.



Every time I go to the DeKalb Farmer's Market I see at least one person using Ikea's huge shopping bags. Note: the yellow bag is for in-store, Ikea use only and the blue bags are available for purchase.
I love the colors and grocery bag shape of Dutch designer Susan Bijl's New Shoppingbag, available for purchase at www.greenergrassdesign.com. They're a little pricey at $37.50 however. Even Whole Foods doesn't charge that much for their fanciest, reusable bag.

Last but not least is the classic string grocery bag. Perfect for fruits and vegetables and can be purchased at your local organic market.

CL

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

My favorite is something called the Chico Bag (http://www.chicobag.com/, and sold at Sevenanda in L5P). It balls up into its own tiny bag so you can keep it in your purse and never have to plan ahead. They're $5 each and come in lots of colors.

amelia said...

A woman I work with gave everyone on the staff two of the reusable Kroger bags for the holidays. Seriously, one of the best "I need to get everyone a gift here, but don't want to blow the big bucks or, you know, think about it" gifts I have ever received.

Neat!

Also: hi.

kittenmasks said...

The Anya Hindmarch bags aren't necessarily as "green" as everyone believes as they are, indeed, made halfway around the world (i.e. China) at questionable factories. The "I'm Not A Smug Twat" bag is made in the U.K. under fair trade and labor laws albeit a bit more pricey due to the dollar:pound ratio. However, the message it sends seems to be more in line than the ironically iconic originals.

EHT said...

I noticed my Publix had moved their bags up to the register and have them hanging over the debit/credit keypad....you can't miss 'em.

Alya said...

I own a shopping bag that's similar to the Ikea material. Is that plastic?

Anyway, it doesnt tear, and its reusable because its a grocery bag/picnic basket. It doesnt stain as well..

AsianCajuns said...

Christa, what a great deal! I love the Chico Bag. Next time I'm in that part of town I'll stop by Sevenanda and pick one up. You can never have too many tote bags, right?

Amelia, that's brilliant! I wish I had thought of that this year. Those reusable Kroger bags are a nice size. Hello back ;).

East-West Hybrid, I've heard that Hindmarch's bags aren't green at all, which is a shame. However, I love the "I'm Not a Smug Twat" bag. That's a much better version.

Eht, good for Publix! They haven't done that in Decatur yet, but hopefully they will soon. What a great idea.

Pomegranate, I have no idea what that material is called, but it's ideal. Some of my flimsier tote bags can't handle much more than a cup of yogurt.

Anonymous said...

Hello Bloggers.

I have some great images of some tote bags if you would like to add them to your images.

Please e-mail me johns@instorecorp.com

Anonymous said...

I think these ones are really cute too:
http://thankyoutotebags.com/

AsianCajuns said...

Those are too cute!