Green Product Review: Plum Creek Mercantile Reusable Cloth Snack Bags

I recently wrote a post about the benefits of reusable cloth snack bags. I’ve used various cloth snack bags, but fell for the look of the reusable cloth snack bags from Plum Creek Mercantile, so in that snack bag post I highlighted them. The owner of the company saw the piece and liked it so she sent me some bags to try out.

Product: Plum Creek Mercantile reusable cloth snack bags. I got two sets of snack bags to try (different fabrics, same sizes). My fabrics (seen above) are Sorbet Twirl and Robot.

Cost: Plum Creek offers various sizes of bags and the prices vary from about $5 for one snack bag to $25 for a set of five snack bags (organic fabric bags, by the way, are the same price!). They also offer bulk food bags ($28 set of two); really cute lunch kits (about $40); and adorable small storage bags ($3-5).

Bulk Food Bags- Organic Tea Dye and Lunch Kit- silver lunchbox

Eco facts:

• Bags are available in organic cotton.
• The benefits of reusable cloth bags for snack and bulk food items are huge. See an entire list of benefits by clicking here.
• Long life span – means less new resources used by you, thus a smaller footprint!

Storage Bags

Product pros:

• Totally cute designs available – I LOVE the bags I was sent. The sorbet design is super pretty and my son Cedar loved the robot fabric. I think the creamy organic design is pretty too and love that there are enough fabric choices to please any household.
• Obviously I like that I don’t need to use toss away products like foil or plastic wrap.
• Much lighter than containers. I tend to buy aluminum or other heavy food storage containers because they’re more sustainable than plastic BUT they’re heavy to cart around and take up tons o’ space in my bag or Cedar’s lunch box. These bags are lightweight and take up very little space.
• Arrived to my house in very tiny packaging! Not excessive – which is great (very sustainable).
• Work very well. These snack bags are heavy weight fabric and have super strong Velcro closures. Not once have they opened up while we’re on the go.
• Good sizes. My snack bags came with a sandwich size that fits most bread types, a medium size that works great for crackers or trail mix, and a tiny bag that I like for treats – like a couple of cookies or some fruit snacks.
• Wash well for the most part (see below in cons). I’ve washed these excessively in the washer so I could write this review, and they’re in great shape and the Velcro is holding strong. Plus, my son got blackberry jam all over one, and it washed out. No stains.
• Food stays fresh for the day. We packed them with sandwiches, apple slices, carrots, crackers, cookies, jelly beans, and more, and it all stayed nice and fresh all day.
• Seem like they’ll last forever. So far these seem really well made, strong, and hardy. I’m betting they’ll last for years.
• Because of all of the above, these bags will save you money. You won’t need to buy foil or plastic wrap, and you won’t need to buy new bag sets for a good long while.

Reusable Snack Bags- Mint Stripe and Snack Bags- Organic Cream

Product cons:

Above I noted that they wash well for the most part – and they do, but the downside is that the Velcro sticks to the rest of your laundry. The way I found around this is that I put the bags into a mesh laundry bag before washing. This is not a huge con, but something to be aware of.

Kids must work with you – I’m not sure this is a huge con, more of a time issue, but you need to get the kids on board. Like with any reusable container, kids need prompts so they won’t try to toss or recycle the container. My son has tried to recycle ice pop molds, tin containers, and other cloth bags before so I really talked about this with him. I didn’t want the bags to go missing. Now, all that said, I think kids should be taught about reusable items and Cedar’s done well with these; so far we haven’t lost one.

Not long term storage. Again, this isn’t a huge con, just an FYI. If you put crackers in one of the bags, it’s a day or two deal. Long term, the crackers are going to go stale. For normal purposes, food stays fresh.

Overall happy tree score:

Five out of five happy trees! I really liked these bags. They’re stronger than most I’ve tried so food doesn’t get smashed as easily. The designs are great and the eco-benefits are stupendous and they save you money over time because you don’t need toss away food storage. I highly recommend these bags for tree hugging families.

Visit Plum Creek Mercantile to see all the designs available.

[All images via Plum Creek Mercantile]