Don't Leave Home without your Shopping Bag!

Enviro Sax has new print designs for their bags. Their bags are large, waterproof and sturdy with wide handles that slip easily over an arm. EnviroSax bags roll up easily and have a snap. Unfortunately, the company seems to have difficulty keeping up with demand for the most popular designs.




Chico Bags

The new Vita Chico bag is larger, has a wider strap and they say can carry up to 40#--but it still fits in the handy little stuff sac.

The RePete bag is 99% recycled material by weight, containing 7 soda bottles. Even the aluminum for the carbiners is recycled. It is the same size as the original bag, but is still a sturdy workhorse (up to 25#), but in groovier colors. The bag with recycled content is more expensive than the original bag--costs more to process all those useless water bottles.

Please bring your reusable shopping bags

Today the Washington Post has a terrific chart on the environmental cost of paper and plastic shopping bags. -Click here to see the chart-

The chart details the costs of production of these bags. Very interesting--paper leaves a much bigger footprint than plastic, and you already know about the havoc plastic bags create in the environment. But please read the fascinating and colorful chart, and you'll never forget to bring your string bag, Chico bag or Trader Joe's bag with you when you shop.

I personally enjoy seeing the wide variety of bags members bring to the coop. Some members are still using bags we sold many years ago but are no longer being manufactured. When I see a great bag I frequently ask the shopper where they got it and often it is from a supermarket in Europe. So we have to catch up! At the Coop we are working on improving our shopping bag selection.

And thanks to the very many Coop members who do bring their own bags. I'm sure none of you are among the 70% of Americans who do not know that plastic bags are made of petroleum (re the Post).