Breaking News: Reusable Bags Are Still Popular

Sometimes, in lieu of hard-hitting news, all you need is some affirmation. Today’s affirmation is simply that reusable bags are on a roll and show no sign of slowing down. Yesterday for example, LSU’s The Daily Reveille reported that reusable bags are as popular as ever, even going so far as to claim that they are gaining in social standing:

People have a wider variety of bags to choose from now when checking out at the grocery store. A current trend among shoppers is the use of reusable grocery bags. The bags are part of the eco-friendly movement sweeping the nation.

Reusable grocery bags first appeared in larger cities, such as New York and Los Angeles, where stores had trouble keeping them on the shelves.

After reusable bags were sold in March 2007 for a fundraiser in the U.K., the trend caught on quickly, and markets and health food chains began carrying the bags nationally.

Now the bags can be found in almost every grocery store in operation — even Wal-Mart.

Meanwhile, Amy Costello of NPR conducted an interview and human interest piece regarding Sharon Rowe (creator of Eco-Bags), New York City’s love-hate relationship with plastic bags, and the potential importance of picking a quality reusable bag over a cheap counterpart.

How long is that bag gonna last? I mean, the last thing you want to do is purchase a bag that’s really cheap and it falls apart and then it just immediately becomes a part of the waste stream…

Wise words, and a vote for quality! So now that you’re all pumped about reusable bags, what are you going to do with all of your pent-up reusable bag ready energy? Well, Labor Day is just around the corner and then it’s back-to-school time, so if you have kids (or if you’re a student yourself!) you might want to check out some high-quality reusable BACKPACKS (!) to haul those books to class in style. Eco Times has a very informative comparison article about some great sustainable options worth checking out.

Bags: STILL THE FUTURE! Nothing’s going to slow them down.

Monday, August 25th, 2008 at 11:35 am and is filed under The Daily. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.