Green Chic – Bags

09Aug08

With all the attention on going green these days, I’ve started to pay attention to reusable/recycled grocery bags during my supermarket trips. I’ve noticed that people are indeed becoming more environmentally conscious by replacing plastic bags with reusable bags/totes to carry their groceries home. However, among the bags that people are carrying, none were appealing. And that drove me to do some research on better options for those of us who are design conscious and look for better alternatives than a grandma shopping bag. Here are just some of the brands and styles that I’ve come across.

Envirosax

Envirosax produces some of the most stylish and trendy reusable shopping bags that I’ve seen in the market. Their eco-friendly reusable shopping bags are available as single items or as an assortment of 5 durable waterproof, lightweight bags held in a small pouch that fits in a handbag.

REISENTHEL

Reisenthel is a German brand that designs with form, style and function in mind. Their Carrybag is a signature item and have seem similar styles carried by Catherine Zeta-Jones in No Reservations. I’m not sure how easy it is to carry around but sure looks very stylish!

BEAU SOLEIL

Beau Soleil created by Anne Salvatore Epstein, is an eco-friendly brand focused on sustainability, fair trade and labor. Along with the use of organic raw materials, it aims to offer consumers environmentally healthy fashion choices without sacrificing style and design. The Beau Bag is among my favorite finds in the eco-friendly bags:

B HAPPYBAGS

b Happybags was created by long time proponents of “just saying no” to paper or plastic.

METHOD

Method was founded by Adam Lowry and Eric Ryan, who set out to create home care products that are design and environmentally friendly. Although reusable bags is not their main product line, they sure did a good job with the design of the market tote. My favorite is the blue Method/HSN version which is sold on HSN.com.

JUICY COUTURE

Juicy Couture also has caught on the green trend by offering its go-green tote. I did get a little side tracked while surfing for their bag category when I came across the Flower tote. Not exactly your grocery bag but I can’t help highlighting it here. Thought someone would appreciate the unique design. It comes in apple green and yellow as well. And like all their other bags, it’s quite pricy even for the Go Green tote, which I’m not sure if it’s worth it.

FOREVER 21

Forever 21 offers some of the most economical and design friendly reusable totes. The i Love Green and Love Your Mother Earth designs below are sold for $1.50. The pink Car Canvas Tote Bag is based on an eco-friendly print design on a vegetable fiber canvas. The interior has pocket compartments so not exactly designed to carry grocery but a good option for the designed, green and cost conscious.

MyBag Fold-Up Grocery Bag

MyBag grocery bag was found on a UK retailer site. I liked the unique design concept (opens up and you get a plastic bag looking reusable bag) so thought I highlight it here. It looks like you can purchase it from the US but the shipping cost is quite high for international customers.

SEA BAGS

Sea Bags is a Portland based company that makes custom tote bags out of recycled sails. The totes come in three different sizes and offers customization on numbers. A medium sized bag runs over $100. Not cheap for a tote but does help support for a good cause.

CHAPEL OF DAWN

Chapel of Dawn is another brand that I’d came across recently that I thought had some cool stuff. I couldn’t find much info about them but believe that they are a Hong Kong brand. The two items below that I loved are the limited edition of the Chapel of Dawn Eric Elms Colette Tote (limited edition: 100 worldwide) and Chapel of Dawn Hello Kitty Tote. I’d also recommend checking out Colette’s website, it has some really cool product designs!

FEED BAG

Lauren Bush, honorary spokesperson for the UN World Food Program, initiated the feed project to fight child hunger. “The FEED bag is a sturdy, reversible bag made out of natural burlap and cotton materials. The design of the bag was inspired by the big bags of food that I have seen being distributed to schools around the world. Besides being a cool bag, it is a tangible way to make a difference in the fight against child hunger. Every FEED bag sold will feed a child for a whole year in school!” This version of Feed Bag was designed for retail on Amazon.

Anya Hindmarch

Since we’re talking about reusable shopping bags, we can’t get away with not mentioning the infamous “I’m not a plastic bag” by Anya Hindmarch. The bag was a limited edition bag (I believe around 20K) that went on sale worldwide and was sold out within hours of its release. People lined up for hours and each customer was limited to one purchase, if they were lucky to even get to it. Since then, there’s been a lot of look alikes and can even be found on Amazon. For something that was a limited edition, I question where the bags came from.

Filed under: For Her, Green Chic   |  1 Comment
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