Reusable Shopping Bags And Fashion: Green Doesn’t Have To Mean Drab

Posted on September 26, 2008
Filed Under Eco-Travel

Choosing to “go green” and deciding to use reusable shopping bags, rather than disposable bags, doesn’t have to be the fashion “faux pas” that you might think. In fact, using environmentally friendly reusable bags has become somewhat of a fashion statement, a way of letting others know you’re “hip”, “phat” and a part of the current trend of “thinking green.” And fortunately for today’s environmentally conscious, there are new and exciting choices not previously available, that make choosing “green” as smart a fashion choice as it is a responsible social choice. Here are a few examples of how you can be trendy and fashion-conscious, and still be an environmental partner.

In May of this year, Lauren Bush (yes, that Lauren Bush, niece of President George Bush) released the second bag in her line of reusable bags to the general public. Her original line, released through Amazon.com, sold 37,000 bags at a price of $59.99. However the new bags, called “FEED 100”, are designed more for everyday use than were the bags of the original line, and are cheaper. The bags help to raise funds for feeding hungry children through the UN (United Nations) World Food Program. And with the purchase of each bag, made of 100% cotton and sustainable burlap, consumers provide 100 meals for school children.

Another company that’s helping to make “green” fashionable is LilyEcolo, where you can find a variety of fashionable bags and totes to help you to act daily in a more environmentally kind way. The company “brings audacity, style and color in the sphere of ecological choices,” and offers a range of bag choices from reusable bags which fold up as small as a tissue, to the “all-in-one” bag which will hold your wallet, cell phone, makeup kit and more, in an effort to ensure that you’re never left without a reusable tote to fit your purpose. The company encourages people to “shop differently” to “reduce wasting at the source simply by taking the habit of using practical, lasting and reusable bags,” and to daily make a difference in the environment.

Then there are “Baggu” (bag-goo) bags. Baggu is a company that manufactures large, bright, wonderfully colorful bags as fashion and shopping accessories. The company reminds visitors that the average family brings home 1,000 plastic bags a year, and it takes roughly 1,000 years for those bags to decompose. The company further claims that “Using one Baggu for one year replaces 300 to 700 disposable bags.” The bags are made of strong (holds up to 25lbs), lightweight (2 oz) nylon that folds into 5” by 5” pouches. Not a bad choice for fashion-conscious ladies on the go.

Opting to use reusable bags is a responsible choice nowadays. But choosing to “go green” and do your small part in helping to preserve, improve, and protect our environment no longer means having to look “un-cool.” There are plenty alternatives to using disposable bags and containers as we go about our daily lives; we simply have to be willing to use them.

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