Better Reusable Bags - Baggu

Like many of you good citizens with good intentions, I’ve tried to kick that high-pollutin’ plastic bag habit during my weekly grocery trips. But I’ll confess, it’s simply not that convenient to use those cloth, reusable tote bags. There, I’ve said it.

The back of my SUV is already crammed to full capacity with two strollers, a diaper bag, karate gear, bottled water and sand toys. I simply don’t have room for a dozen, canvas totes I have to remember to bring every time I go to the store. Recognizing these inherent limitations to the average reusable bag, Baggu has built a better shopping bag for the eco-barelyconscious set.

These brightly colored totes are made from durable rip-stop nylon and come in nine different colors, as well as stripes. But best of all, they fold into flat 5 x 5 inch pouches, small enough to slip into the back pocket of your hipslung jeans. Yet they still hold more than your average reusable (a half-dozen bags are estimated to handle the contents of your entire shopping cart. So that means less back and forth trips to your car and kitchen when it’s time to unload.

One bag and pouch is $8, but if you buy in packs you get a discount. A pack of three is $22 while a pack of six is $38.

Here’s the sobering statistics: Each family bring home over 1,000 plastic bags a year and collectively, that adds up to 100 billion plastic bags a year which end up in landfills. Since plastic doesn’t biodegrade, they photo-degrade instead, which means tiny pieces end up in our soil and water and contaminate our natural resources.

I plan on buying some of these bags and keeping one in my purse so that when I’m running my errands to the drugstore, Target, bookstore and mall, I can save a bag from the landfill.

LINK: Baggu.com

*For you Angelenos reading this, you can purchase these bags at Fred Segal at 420 and 500 Broadway in Santa Monica.