I received the coolest gift in the mail yesterday from Michele – a ChicoBag. ChicoBags are the perfect option for someone looking to replace their store plastic bags with a reusable bag. It is generic in nature; meaning not specific to one store. It is washable and self-folds into its own small pouch. And the best part: it has a clip so that I can attach it to my purse or key chain or diaper bag and never have to search for it. Nor, will I ever be able to use the excuse again that I forgot my cloth bags. Now, don’t get me wrong, I do love my Whole Food and Trader Joe's cloth bags, but this one is just so cool.
I was reading on their web site, http://www.chicobags.com/ , and found some very shocking information:
*The average American uses between 300 and 700 plastic bags per year.
*If everyone in the United States tied their annual consumption of plastic bags together in a giant chain, the chain would reach around the Earth not once, but 760 times!
*According to the American Forest and Paper Association, in 1999 the U.S. alone used 10 billion paper grocery bags, requiring 14 million trees to be cut down.
*Plastic bags don’t biodegrade, they photo-degrade—breaking down into small toxic bits contaminating soil and waterways and entering the food-chain when mistaken for zooplankton or jellyfish.
I've already thought of several other uses for this handy bag:
-A Laundry Bag: No longer will Bill have to rely on the hotel's plastic laundry bag to bring home his dirty laundry. He can keep this small pouch in his suitcase, which takes up virtually no room, and use it over and over again, unlike those plastic ones he had been relying on which always come home stretched or riped.
-Library Book Bag: Because this bag can hold up to 20 lbs., you can now easily bring home all of your new reading material.
- Lunch Bag: It's the perfect bag to bring a picnic to the park in: the handles are not going to rip out from under you like a paper one and if anything gets spilt on it, it's washable.
I’m definitely going to order some more…now, I just have to choose which color!