Saving the world, one reusable bag at a time.

For those of you who know me, it seems as if I am constantly on the go, only unpacking to re-pack and leave. One of my travel eco-essentials (besides buying carbon offsets), one that fits conveniently in my purse, is a chico bag. I use it for groceries, e.g. to take fruit or snacks onto a plane; as a small shopping tote; and in a pinch its even doubled as a mini-beach bag.

I won’t get into too many of the details here about the scourge that is the common plastic bag – I guarantee we haven’t figured out the environmental cost of plastic bags as yet – but did you know that plastic bags take up to 1,000 years to degrade in a landfill? As litter, they breakdown into tiny bits, contaminating our soil and water. And if you are an animal lover you might want to know that hundreds of marine animals die each year from choking on discarded plastic bags, mistaking them for food. In fact, endangered sea turtles think the bags are jellyfish, their primary food source.

Which brings me back to my point. If there’s one simple thing you can do to live with more eco-awareness. Keep at least one reusable bag with you always.

The chico bags are small, durable (hold up to 25lbs) and come in a range of fun colours. My favourite style is the “Original rePete bag, fashioned from rePETe™, a proprietary fabric made of 100% machine washable recycled PET material that weighs only 1.5 ounces. And keeping with the company’s closed-loop manufacturing model, even the carabiner is made of 97% recycled Aluminum, while the cord is of 100% recycled PET.

Cost: $7.99. A small investment in helping to save the world. Find them at Whole Foods Markets or at www.chicobag.com.