Tree Hugging Family » Reuse

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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Quick tip: reuse old bubble wrap to save produce

Jennifer — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 21:00:10 +0000

If you’ve got a bunch of bubble wrap laying around, it’s better for more than popping fun.

You can also use it to protect produce, both at home and on the go. If you place a layer of bubble wrap in your produce drawers it will stop produce from hitting the hard bottom and bruising. Same goes for snacks on the go. Most lunch sacks don’t have much cushion. If you layer the bottom with bubble wrap, even a good swing will do your apples no harm.

Of course this is just one way to reuse old bubble wrap – what other ways can you think of?

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What to do with old plastic baggies

Jennifer — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 07:11:09 +0000

I don’t buy plastic bags. To me they’re a total waste of energy and plastic, when frankly, containers work just as well, but can be reused for years.

You do hear stories of thrifty folks using their baggies for years and years, but seriously, some get tossed, and they do develop holes. A better plan is to own a decent amount of containers with lids. That said, if you currently haven’t made that leap, and you do own some plastic bags, do try to wash and reuse them. If you feel odd about washing and reusing them for food items, there’s still much you can do with them, like…

Keep wet paint brushes in a baggie to keep them moist (use this during long painting projects).
Use to store loose change – the benefit here is that a baggie will lay flat in a drawer – a jar won’t.
Store small silver items in baggies to avoid tarnish.
Use to hold household receipts.
Use for paint drop pictures with the kids – fill with paint, close, and snip the smallest end off a corner. Your kids can dot paint cool pictures. A variation on this is a frosting squeeze (but of course that does involve food).
Put instructions for appliances in baggies and tape them to the appliance – out of sight.
If you fill the small ones with soil, and place them altogether in a box lid, they’ll stand up, and you can actually start seeds in them. Pop small holes in the bottom for watering.
Use to gather up all your daughter’s hair accessories.
Use to sort Lego colors for a special Lego project – my son is organized enough to do something nuts like this – but maybe your kid isn’t.

You can do a lot with plastic baggies, and if you’re gonna buy them, you should use them to death; at least until you phase them out.

What else do you do with old plastic baggies?

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

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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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Polite Ways to Suggest Reusable Bag Use

Peggy — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:00:50 +0000

If you weren’t already using your own shopping totes before, I hope reusable bag month has helped to convert you. Now, how do you go about spreading the reusable bag love?

Try these simple ways to help your friend get the reusable bag habit on:

• Show your bags. Brag on them. Talk about how much better you like them than one-timers.

• Buy bag starter gifts. Get them started with an affordable shopping bag.

• Go shopping! For encouragement, offer to shop with your friends on their first reusable bag outings.

• Get them thinking. Ask, “How many plastic bags do you use each month?” It’s an interesting question, and collecting them all in one place for a month may really bring home the consumption rate. (The bag image is from when I did that before I started using my own bags. That was two month’s worth of bags.)

• If you sew, have a reusable bag making party. Use old fabrics to create one-of-a-kind shopping totes.

Do you have more suggestions for helping others convert to reusable bags?

Image: From me.

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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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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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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

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