Green Cotton

We all know one of the easiest and simplest ways to go “green” is to bring reusable bags to the grocery store. Did you do this the last time you went to the store? Maybe not. If you are like me, you might have forgotten to slip one in your bag for the last minute errand you did not anticipate. With the best of intentions, it is a lot harder to execute this simple act on a consistent basis.

Yet, despite the challenges, many are happily succeeding at this all-important change in behavior (just check out your local Trader Joes, Food Coop, Farmers Market, or Whole Foods for some indication). If the market provides any clues as well, with more than several dozen reusable bag companies on the market, demand is strong and growing. This is great! Indeed, let’s celebrate these efforts, while also recognizing we can still do more.

At the same time, it’s interesting to look at companies and organizations that are taking this simple green grocery bag step a little further. Recognizing the growing trend, why not push the envelope and see how much impact one can achieve from a single re-usable bag? That is exactly what Laura Bush asked when she started Feedprojects.org 3 years ago in 2006 with her debut bag FEED 1.

Three years have passed since FEED1 and to their credit, the bags are now stocked at nearly every Whole Foods in the country along with several other major chains. In addition to raising $4million dollars through FEED bags (donated to the World  Food Progam (WFP), the bags seem to have  increased interest in global hunger alleviation, while also fomenting the demand for reusable bags.

So what are these bags all about?

Unlike traditional “fair trade” bags, which benefit artisans in developing countries at point of purchase in those countries, Feed bags benefit people in developing countries at the US checkout line (eg once they are purchased here). As an example, the FEED 1 Bag sells for approximately $30 dollars and with that, supposedly provides 100 meals to hungry children in Rwanda. By the end of 2007, FEED raised donations for the World Food Program (WFP) to feed over 37,500 hungry children in school for one year. In 2008, FEED Projects various partnerships will lead to over $4 million for WFP school feeding.

The problems being address will clearly take some time to solve, but one step at a time, each bag counts.  According to Feedprojects.org, “hunger and malnutrition kill more people than AIDS, malaria, and TB combined. Almost 400 million children around the world go to bed hungry every night. In fact, every five seconds a child dies because he or she is hungry.”

While it is true that no single solution will solve global malnutrition, what’s not to like about a simple campaign supporting a simple product that raises awareness about global malnutrition while helping to solving it…AND reducing plastic grocery bag use (remember it takes up to 1,000 years for one bag to decompose in a landfill).

In addition to the hunger impact, all FEED products are made as eco-friendly and fairly as possible. The bags are produced with high-quality, 100% organic cotton and natural burlap. FEED works with only audited and certified fair labor facilities.

Images courtesy of http://www.feedprojects.org/content.asp?tid=16.

Bergdorf Goodman and Rugby by Ralph Lauren have joined in the fun, too. Each of these retailers collaborated to create a version of the FEED Bag.

Bergdorf’s FEED 2 Bag (featured above) supports the Kenyan community as it was handcrafted by a group of deaf Kenyans.  Furthermore, each bag purchased feeds 2 hungry Kenyan school children for an entire year.

The Rugby FEED Bag gives money to The Feed Foundation to support student activists who go abroad to join the force in combating hunger around the world.

Bobbi Brown and Lauren Bush recently collaborated to create a FEED makeup bag that will benefit disadvantaged women who have joined the UN’s food for work program.

So check it out, and see what you can do next time you bring your re-usable to the store. Why not make it an act of social impact as well. Can’t hurt, right?

To see  and read more on FEED’s ever-expanding array of bag selections, visit the Feed Foundation.

Photos courtesy of Feed Projects

By Morgan Laske and Shana Yansen

Photosource: Guardian UK

Last spring on Green Cotton we posted an article on plastic bag usage, sharing the rather unpalatable statistics on our global usage. 

If we had to name our nation’s top ten environmental accomplishments in 2008, I seriously doubt that recycling plastic bags would make it on the list. We currently recycle a mere 1-3% of plastic bags (we have 97% room for improvement).

Unfortunately, making matters worse, it is currently more expensive to recycle plastic bags and bring them back into the market than it is to make new ones. No wonder companies are producing, producing, producing and not recycling. All the more reason for us consumers to rise up and make change happen on our own. Our current economic downturn has plummeted the recycling further, making it even more economically unappealing to corporations.

So let’s revisit the statistics as we kick off 2009:

Plastic Bag Consumption Facts

• Each year, we consume an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags worldwide. That comes out to over one million per minute. Billions end up as litter each year.
• According to the EPA, over 380 billion plastic bags, sacks and wraps are consumed in the U.S. each year.
• Americans alone discarded more than 3.3 million tons of low- and high-density polyethylene bags, sacks, and wraps in 2000 (EPA).
• The U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually.
• Taiwan consumes 20 billion bags a year—900 per person (industry publication, Modern Plastics).
• Four out of every five bags handed out at grocery stores in the USA are plastic.

Estimated Cost of Plastic Bags in US

• Estimated cost to retailers is $4 billion (source EPA.gov)

Environmental Cost of Plastic Bags

• Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, whales and other marine mammals die every year from eating discarded plastic bags mistaken for food.
• Turtles think the bags are jellyfish, their primary food source.
• On land, many cows, goats and other animals suffer a similar fate to marine life when they accidentally ingest plastic bags while foraging for food.
• Plastic bags are among the 12 items of debris most often found in coastal cleanups, according to the nonprofit Center for Marine Conservation.

- Sources (reusablebags.com and verdavivo blog)

Recycling Facts

• Plastic bags are rarely recycled, merely 1-3% currently in the US
• Plastic bags don’t degrade easily in natural environments nor landfills. In fact they do not biodegrade, they photo-degrade, which can take up to 1,000 years breaking into smaller and smaller particles (often toxic to surrounding ecosystems).
• It is more expensive to recycle plastic bags and bring them back into the marketplace than to create new ones.

Curbing and Banning Plastic Bag Consumption

• One of the poorest countries in the world, Bangladesh has banned plastic bags since 2002
• China has even banned free plastic bags (resulting in 27 million barrels of oil saved)
• San Francisco has banned plastic bags in stores
• Certain counties in NY have banned plastic bags and LA has imposed strict limitations
• Whole Foods and Trade Joe’s have banned plastic bags
• Some retailers offer incentives to bring your own; few however impose an extra cost for plastic bag use

So where does the solution for change lie? With us consumers.

According to last Spring’s plastic bag survey on Green Cotton the number one barrier to change was consumer awareness….So that’s why we are posting this again, and its also why we ask you to take this survey now (45 seconds of your time) if you have not already done so. It will make a difference.

Take this plastic bag survey right now and be a part of the change.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=2WbhOHprWJwBI8YLpimD8A_3d_3d

We’ll post the results of the survey in a week.

Primary sources for this blog post: resuablebags.com, EPA.gov, Trellisearth.com as well as several other websites listed above as hyperlinks.

Photosource top: Guardian UK

Looking for an eco-chic way to tote your lunch?

Fulfill at least two New Year’s resolutions at once – go green AND eat out less – with the 3 R’s lunch sacs from Print Pattern Paper.

Made from fair trade, organic cotton, these bags are the perfect size to tote all your goodies. And the playful, colorful images? They’re inspired by Print Pattern Paper founder/artist/designer Rebecca Peragine’s quirky-cute recycled paper prints.

Explore the company’s site, and you’ll find more eco-friendly totes, along with unique artwork that would cheer up any living space. Peragine, both an artist and a mom, crafts bright, whimsical paper pieces that are “inspired by daily life.”

Peragine is a Wisconsin native who moved to Mexico, opened a coffee shop, and started her first company Art & Philanthropy by crafting collages entirely out of recycled textiles. In Mexico, Peragine also became involved in a woman’s co-op and the PEACE organization. Though living back in Wisconsin, Peragine continues to work with PEACE and other grassroots organizations that help support women and children.

My favorite of Peragine’s prints is “Paz,” part of the PEACE collection. It serves as a great reminder of environmental stewardship and responsibility – I want to display it above my recycling bins! – as well as a symbol of harmony and equality.

For bags, I love the Oliver Owl lunch sac (similar to top bag). It’s so cute and boho-chic, it could easily pass for a purse! The adorable appliqué is only part of the appeal—this tote is also washable and has drawstring and Velcro closures. Now lunch is a piece of cake (and who doesn’t love cake?)!

And for shopping trips or days when you need to carry a little extra, Print Pattern Paper has the roomy market tote. Perfect for a trip to your favorite food store or even an overnight, the bag also has an internal pocket to fit a cell phone, sunglasses and change purse.

For a lighter trip, the library chic tote is appropriately named, as it makes the perfect bag for books, folders or magazines. I love the Green Peace design; in white cotton, it’s subtle, chic, and still makes a bold statement. And at $9.50, it’s both eco-friendly and affordable!

With unique, eco-friendly artwork and bags, there’s much to love about Print Pattern Paper.

Not surprisingly too, Print, Pattern, Paper’s blog is also great. There you will find insights into how the printing and paper-making process is done and how her fabulous designs come to be. You will also find adorable models wearing P*P*P’s products.

Check out the website and find your own favorites; at great prices, you could score a fun print and a bag and still have enough left for your organic groceries!

Print*Pattern*Paper has graciously offered a 20% Discount for Green Cotton readers. Just enter in the code GREEN09 at checkout. Happy shopping!

By Erin Dale