Jumping on the Bagwagon…

By Rachel on Jul 2, 2008 inin Uncategorized, blog, conscious consumerism, reviews, sustainability |

…the ChicoBagwagon, that is (I’m sorry I couldn’t help myself). It also allows me to once again blog about something Waylon has already blogged about.

Back in March, my friend gave me a ChicoBag for my birthday, and then a couple of days ago, I scored another one when I stopped by elephant’s downtown Boulder office (I’d told my parents internships have their perks!). I already knew these bags were durable, convenient and have a nifty little stuff sack, but I recently learned that the company’s genius started in a landfill. ChicoBag founder, Andy Keller, went to dispose of some waste and was overwhelmed by the amount of plastic bags he saw being unloaded. It was then and there that he decided to help Americans kick our single-use bag habit. A devoted yoga practioner, Andy likes it hot (i’m sorry I couldn’t help it…again). He credits much of his business success to the dedication and focus required in his yoga practice. He also brings the ideal of taking your practice off the mat (and in this case into his bussiness) by donating bags to low income families and the homeless.

However, what impressed me the most is the Recycle symbol on the outside of my bag stuff sack. It actually confused me the most at first (do I put nylon is mixed paper or plastics?). However, in the event that your reusable bag becomes, for lack of a better term, unusable, you can send it to the company, who will send it to an organization called Grateful Threads. Volunteers at Grateful threads sew unique and beautiful rugs from the nylon material, which are then sold to raise money for victims of domestic violence.

Pretty impressive stuff. So shat did you do today that was so great? Well, if you’re using a ChicoBag, it means you’re not contributing to the estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion single use bags that are thrown “away” each year.