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Sea Bags

12:47 am - November 1, 2005

Photo: Sea Bags

Here at the Green Guide, we're always looking for ways to ease the environmental burden of the 14 billion plastic and 10 billion paper shopping bags handed out by grocery stores every year. Organic cotton canvas bags stand out as being the most eco-friendly alternative, but that material stains and isn't always water-resistant. Other reusable shopping bag manufacturers who want to improve a bag's durability and water-resistance resort to nasty fabrics like vinyl, which, among many other environmental ills, releases dioxins into the air during its production.

Then came Sea Bags, an innovative company situated along the shores of Maine that saw the durability and strength of old sailboat sails and recycled them into reusable shopping bags. The material used in the sails is Dacron, a trademark name for the polymer used in polyester production. While the material wasn't exactly kind to the earth while being produced (petroleum-based polyester contributes to the depletion of non-renewable fossil fuels and increases our dependence on foreign oil), you can enjoy the benefits of strength, water resistance and durability that come with Dacron without the guilt of further depleting the earth of its precious resources--and you save landfill space. Furthermore, Sea Bags handles are made of "ragrope," a material created from recycled rags that were spun into rope.

Sea Bags are a bit pricey, but with all their benefits, you can let the price slide, kind of like water off a ducks back. Small bags run $85 (14"w x 15"h); medium bags $95 (14"h x 15"h); and large bags $110 (20"w x 15"). (www.seabags.com; 207-780-0744).

If youre looking for a bigger bag with a little more portability, check out My Own Bag (www.myownbag.com). These colorful totes, attractive enough to be carried to the grocer or on a day about town, fold up into interior pockets, which make it easy to toss them into a purse or briefcase for those unplanned shopping trips on the way home from work. Slightly cheaper than Sea Bags at $40 a bag and up, My Own Bags resist water and stains better than cotton.

But you still don't have to shell out a fortune for reusable bags. Now that stores nationwide are beginning to rid their checkout counters of plastic--Whole Foods and Ikea, for instance--lots of them are selling reusable totes for $.99 a piece. For a mere $5, you can get a Chico Bag (a perennial GG staff favorite) which you can stuff--no need to fold!--into its own pouch. When the bags wear out, just return them to the company for recycling (www.chicobag.com). Finally, check out the Eco Bags "Green Bag," a $3 tote the zips into its own flat pouch (www.ecobags.com).

Image courtesy of Sea Bags.

© The Green Guide, 2008

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reusable shopping bags
posted by packrat on 2008-04-23 08:51:38  

I make reusable shopping bags by crocheting gently used plastic grocery bags, the ultimate in recycling. My bags are strong enough to carry a full load of milk, canned goods, etc. or a bag full of books from the library used book sale. They are washable. I can send pictures.

reusable shopping bags by packrat
posted by mamaboj on 2008-04-23 09:09:29  

I would love to know how to crochet them (I know how to do basic singe and double crochet).. Thanks!

piece lily market totes
posted by piecelily on 2008-04-23 09:39:33  

piece lily has always used recycled fabrics for our purses and totes, and we have just introduced a simply beautiful marketing tote. Made from recycled and vintage fabrics (even the straps are recycled!), this bag is durable, washable, and adorable. Check them out on www.maxandzane.com

A bit pricey?
posted by ddmffood on 2008-04-23 09:59:25  

You call $85 a bit pricey, what planet are you living on, that's a third of my weekly food budget! I recommend "Planet Bags." They are large with sturdy handles, washable organic cotton, and I can roll up twelve of them and store inside another on a hook in my pantry. I got a baker's dozen for around $50. I do like the idea of crocheting them out of plastic grocery bags. I think I may try that and give them to my ecologically consious friends for Christmas.

garbage bags?
posted by beebs on 2008-04-23 15:03:48  

I use whatever random tote or saved shopping bag I have lying around for groceries. No need to buy something for that purpose. BUT, I am used to using plastic bags to line my kitchen garbage. Since I'm no longer accumulating bags, can someone suggest a way to throw out trash? We compost food waste, and I would rather not buy compostable bags just to throw them away. I've seen some folks recommend no bag, but that seems ick for kitchen garbage.

garbage bags for those of us who use reusables:
posted by captainwonderful on 2008-04-23 17:54:12  

I get plastic garbage bags from friends who aren't hip to canvas re-usables. It makes no sense to me to recycle plastic shopping and buy a box of Heftys. I am hosting a family reunion this summer and all attendees, kids included will receive a canvas shopping bag.

reusable shopping bags
posted by packrat on 2008-04-26 18:56:40  

I don't know how to reply to someone on this list. I will send pictures and directions for my crocheted plastic bags to anyone who asks. CecileChiPgh@gmail.com

Too expensive
posted by fred@organicfred.com on 2008-05-07 14:43:18  

I love supporting small businesses (I have my own) but I agree with ddmffood, these are too expensive. I guess if more people buy them the price will go down or competition will open up. I will try to crochet as well!

I have gone green (in a sense).
posted by pack012 on 2008-05-11 13:53:10  

I have started by bying the greenworks products. They work great. They happen to be in plastic bottles!? I would like to move and start to live as environtally correct as possible with my son. My divorce is almost final. I did not realize how expensive those reusable bags are. I do not have a job and cannot afford to buy one right now but I do have 3 or 4 green ones from Shoprite.