Tree Hugging Family » reusable bags

30 reusable items vs. 30 disposable items

Jennifer — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 11:54:53 +0000

You have hundreds of choices when it comes to reusable products vs. disposable products. Here are 30 ideas. Even if you just choose 5 or 10, and use them all year, it’ll make a huge difference for the planet.

Snack baggies from Plum Creek Mercantile

Cloth snack bags over plastic baggies.
Cloth shopping bags over paper or plastic.
Cloth handkerchiefs over tissues.
Reusable coffee filters over paper.
Cloth shower curtains over plastic.
Reusable lunch sack over paper.
Real dishes over disposable.

EarthLust water bottles

Refillable water bottles over plastic.
Rain water for car washing and gardens over new tap water.
Cloth napkins over paper.
The amazing reusable mom product – Breastfeeding over plastic bottles.
Refillable ink cartridges over new.
Cloth produce bags over plastic.
Food containers over foil, plastic wrap, or wax paper.
Plantable or homemade paper over new.
Wash cloths over baby wipes.

Tovolo ice pop molds

Reusable ice pop molds over toss away boxes, wrappers, and sticks.
Recyclable toothbrushes over toss away toothbrushes.
Non-disposable female products over disposable.
Silicone Baking Cups over paper muffin cups.
Rechargeable batteries over toss away.
Homemade cleaners in refillable bottles vs new plastic bottles all year long.
Old cleaning cloths over paper towels and sponges.
Library books over buying new.
Refillable pens over non-refillable.
Reusable razors – or electric over plastic.
Rented, traded, or thrift store toys over new.
Refillable liquid hand soap pumps over plastic bottled soap.
Old school mop heads over sponge-like mop heads.
Cloth diapers over plastic.

Choose one, choose five, or choose all of the above over disposables to make a big impact.

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This Year Give Reusable Bags for the Holidays!

Jennifer — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 02:00:17 +0000

Reusable bags make awesome holiday gifts. You can stuff them with candy treats or cookies, and this is a gift that can be, and actually will be used for years and years. You can help your friends and family stay green or go green with a great bag.

I found some really nice reusable bag options – pretty ones that would make great gifts this year…

Wild Flowers Organic Cotton Eco Lunch Bag from Art And Philanthropy

Eco-friendly Hemp Bag with Queen Anne’s Lace (Pistachio) from Uzura.

Set of 3 Waterproof Eco-Friendly Snack and Sandwich bags from LMarcacci.

Peace Paisley Tote from Blue Monday.

Super cute Eco-Friendly Tote Bags from Mountains of the Moon which I first saw at The Greenset.

If none of these is quite your bag (pardon the pun) check out the Tree Hugging Family Green Holiday Gift Guide or read the following posts for more options.

Why yes, Tree Hugging Family DOES have a thing for reusable bags. Did you notice?

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Reusable Bag Feature Round Up

Jennifer — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 23:39:26 +0000

Our month-long June theme was the hefty topic of reusable shopping bags. We blogged and blogged bags, and yet there’s so much more we could have blogged. Bags are a big deal. We’ll likely revisit this feature at some point. If you missed any bag goodness, here’s a round-up of all things reusable bags…

The BYOB challenge:

Reusable bag basics and overcoming issues:

Get your own bag:

The why of reusable bags vs. disposable:

Bags for kids!:

Other reusable bag ideas:

Holy smokes – now that’s a lot of bags. Can you imagine if I went through and found all the bag posts we’ve ever done since this blog started? Wow. I’ll most likely be adding this round-up to the sidebar pages, so later you can find these posts again if you like.

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Reusable Bag Challenge Update – How Did Your Entire Month Go?

Jennifer — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:38:23 +0000

This month we’ve all been working hard on the reusable bag challenge. Now is your chance to tell us how you did.

Myself: I did pretty good. I only ended up with the one lame video store bag. Thankfully, I averted some clerks during the month, who were trying little sneaks, like re bagging my fruit into plastic. One bag is not so bad. I worked really hard to take my bags with me everywhere. I basically always kept them in the car, which worked well for pet store trips, and other quick stops.

Now, how did you do? Also, look for a bag round-up post. I’m going to try and gather all the bag posts together in one place – yikes.

Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes, and green challenges going on at Tree Hugging Family in June 2008

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Olive Smart Reusable Grocery Bags

Jennifer — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 19:06:25 +0000

Bag month has been a little hectic. Too bad, because there’s just oh so many bags to see. In any case, I’m going to try and fit in a few more bags before we kick off out cool July theme.

I saw these bags originally at Eco Friendly Driver, and fell in love, because Hil had posted the light olive green darling carry bag – I’m a sucker for light olive green bags. I wanted to post it here, forgot, and then one of the store owners emailed me with some info.

Stephanie, co-business owner of Olive Smart notes the following about her partner and her: “We are both former professionals turned full-time Moms turned entrepreneurs. Our Sacks are unique because all six bags fit into the little Sack which in turn fits into the cup-holder of your car, your handbag etc. making it easy to remember. We are really trying to bring green to the mainstream by making it fun and stylish. With 5 kids between us, Kerri and I see way too many plastic bags leaving the grocery store, Target, etc. It needs to stop!”

Yay for mama businesses! And yay for adorable bags. These bags are good looking, machine washable, hold 20 lbs, and a set of six fit into a cup holder in your car, all of which make these bags ultra easy to carry and use. Following is my favorite set, although, there’s a smaller set and a more bold color set available as well. This set goes for $39.00 and includes 6 bags and the carrying sack – a great deal.

Love the colors – so pretty. The website is very user friendly – which you all know I’m a fan of. They offer bag Q&A, plastic bag facts, and even have a handy demo slide show. This is the first slide below, which is cool, because it shows just how tiny the set is, and how nicely it fits into your car. Can you find the bags?

In any case, I’m very happy that Stephanie emailed me, because this is a great bag set to see. It’s also one of those bag sets that would make a perfect gift, being so colorful and well-priced. Visit Olive Smart to learn more.

Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes, and green challenges going on at Tree Hugging Family in June 2008

[Images via Olive Smart]

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Inexpensive Reusable Grocery Bags

Jennifer — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:25:18 +0000

Inexpensive is relative; one person’s inexpensive is another person’s not so much. However, for the sake of this post, I’m naming right around $10 and under as a decent inexpensive bag. Yeah you can get store brand non-washable bags for 99 cents, but I’m more on the fence of folks buying a decent washable set. One, you can wash them. Two, they hold up better (in my experience). Three; and I’ve noted this before, but research shows that not everyone recycles those store brand bags.

So some inexpensive choices:

[Biome Lifestyle's reusable bag - £6.00 - only downside is that this one may not be washable.]

Dharma Trading Co. has some of the most inexpensive bags around. These plain cotton totes look great, plus have both a gusset and two side pockets. You could dye a bunch or add patches. Cost – just $3.95 per bag, but the price goes down if you order more. Find a pal or two and order tons.

Also see these Plain Reusable Cotton Tote Bags – 6 pk £8.99

Of course Reusable Bags has many good deals. I’d suggest checking their specials link first. Following are some choices.

[Reisenthel - Mini Maxi Shopper, Long Handle - $6.96 to $8.95 - many color options.]

Additionally, Peggy and I have both shopped Reusable Bags. Peggy got some Organic Cotton Eco-Bags for around $8 each, and I got some recycled cotton bags for under $6 each.

Now, if you’re really going to recycle the bag when it wears out, these look pretty good (for non cloth):

[Green World Bags - $7.50 each - different styles available.]

You also might want to check out the post I wrote; I Need New Reusable Bags & Hate Shopping (sos… help!) – there are some decent deals in there. Remember,when you look at a set of bags cost, it might seem like a lot, but really, for example, if you pay $40 for a set of six bags that will last years, that’s a stellar deal at less than $7 per bag. So pay attention to bulk rates.

Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes, and green challenges going on at Tree Hugging Family in June 2008

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Dream Bag Line Up

Jennifer — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:00:26 +0000

Today we’re going to look at three types of bags – Dream bags, mid-level cost bags, and less expensive (or best deal) bags. I’m not showing expensive bags unless they’re dreamy, because non-dreamy expensive bags aren’t fun, just lame.

BUT it is fun to see some crazy cool bags once in a while; so let’s start there. Next up look for mid-cost bag options.

Dream bag uses: Dream bags are not typical all-purpose grocery bags. In my opinion, you should have a normal collection of basic well-priced reusable grocery bags, and then one or two nice dreamy bags for everything else. The reason I like bags over purses, is because one, if you have kids they’re way handy for fitting all that kid stuff, and two, if you’re ever caught sans grocery bags you’re not totally out of luck, because a decent amount of items fit in a bag, which is impossible with a purse. I like the looks of bags more too, although of course that’s a personal decision.

Some super dream bags:

I love this Canvas Pocket Tote from Urban Outfitters. My best friend has a bag like this and I always want to steal it. Of course stealing is wrong and this bag is actually a good deal cost wise, so far as dream bags go, thus I could get my own:

If you’ve never heard of Little Odd Forest, you’ll fall into some sort of blissful love state when you visit. Items there are costly, but beautiful and handmade. If you’re a sewer, this is a spectacular place to visit for ideas of bags or clothing you might make yourself. This shop is cool also because there’s way more than bags (and it’s all amazing) plus there’s usually a nice clearance section happening and sale items. Following are some of my dream bag choices from Little Odd Forest:

A Walk In The Forest (Mungo Shrooms) and Forest Seedlings Tote (Dotty Blooms):

I also like the Leaf Couplet Bag (Lavish Beige), even though there is some red on there and the super cute Cheeky Monster bag. I wouldn’t carry the monster bag around daily, but know people who would. In any case, I still think it’s adorable.

There are many more styles of bags, including some killer wooden handle bags – visit Little Odd Forest to see them all.

I’ve got some more dream bags saved, but before that we’ll be looking at some mid-level and less expensive bags.

Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes, and green challenges going on at Tree Hugging Family in June 2008

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Make Your Own Oilcloth Bags

Jennifer — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 04:41:53 +0000

Check out these adorable reusable lunch sacks – just one more option for cutting your bag use. I’m thinking you could even make these bigger and work out some sort of handle. A crafty sewer (read not me) could do that. The only downside is that you can’t machine wash these, but wiping down is perfectly ok.

Snag the directions right here.

Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes, and green challenges going on at Tree Hugging Family in June 2008[images via Martha Stewart]

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Fun Angry Girl Reusable Bags

Jennifer — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:00:55 +0000

Wow, bag month is so running out of time, and there’s still quite a few bag issues to post on, and a load of bookmarked bags to share. Yikes. Today, let’s start with a fun bag option. These bags are from about attitude, and in my opinion run on the more expensive, yet not outrageously expensive side. I’m thinking that this is a nice reusable bag intro gift for a certain type of girl. Hopefully no one is offended, but I think these are totally cute.

Angry Little Girls reusable shopping bag: ($15.00) – this is sometimes how I feel, but you know me, I’m too sweet to say so…

I also like Angry Little Girls I’m a Lover and for first dates perhaps the Angry Little Girls You Look Like You Want Something bag.

Find your own angry bag and work out some of that hidden inner angst.

Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes, and green challenges going on at Tree Hugging Family in June 2008[Images via about attitude]

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And the big fat anti tree hugging award of the week goes to…

Jennifer — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 05:00:37 +0000

This bag!

In wildly expensive bag news (Julie will love this one) I present you with this adorable, but WAY too expensive bag option…

The “Think Green” Organic Cotton Kermit Tote:

Pros:

Totally adorable
Organic
Comes with buttons – if you’re into that sort of thing.
It saves plastic bags

Con:

Um, almost $40 PLUS $8 shipping, for anything, even a hand spun by the queen, organic bag, is frankly, INSANE. I’m sorry, but here’s the deal; if people really want to make a difference and create change, they’re going to need to make nice organic items accessible to all of us, not just rock stars and others with fatty bank accounts.

I talk a lot here about the choices we make. Like I choose not to own much stuff, I save my $ for organics that provide better health for Cedar. But this bag is not about making a choice; like I’ll cut back on something else to pay for it, because overall, it’s just too expensive. Many places sell longer term bags for a better deal overall. Other places sell organic bags for less. What’s up with this bag?

I don’t know who made it, but it’s a very lame move to charge so much for an item like this. Great job winning the anti-green award of the week bag creator!

[image via Delight.com]

Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes, and green challenges going on at Tree Hugging Family in June 2008

Post from: Tree Hugging Family