Living less than 200 miles from the fashion capital of the United States puts some pressure on you. Between episodes of Project Runway and studying the latest copies of Vogue, trying to keep up with the trends is exhausting! But, since moving to Upstate New York, I’m trying to be a trend setter in my own way….If I can’t rock the runway, I’ll rock the recyclable bag!
My husband and I are becoming hippies! (but please note: not the dirty kind) We have a hybrid car, recycle our glass, aluminum and plastic and are now serious reusable bag shoppers! One of the first things we caught onto when we moved to New York is that folks were adamant in carrying those trendy little totes to the store…and using them.
Wanting to fit in (plus avoid the dirty looks of walking out with plastic) we jumped on the bandwagon with our environmentally correct little bags. Then we realized, we could make a statement without saying a word!
I haven’t seen anyone (so far) shopping with totes quite like ours. We’ve got Carolina Panthers, Arkansas Razorback,St. Louis Cardinals, Snap-On and University of Missouri bags…all which pair nicely with my favorite tote: a hot pink polka dot monogrammed little number. I say life’s too short for ugly recyclable bags!
Each eco-friendly bag holds two to three times more than a normal plastic size bag. I read where the average shopper will use around 350 plastic bags a year…and I know I’m probably higher than average! With more than one billion bags ending up in the trash yearly, it’s a lot of unnecessary waste. Plus, did you know it takes a plastic bag about 450 years to bio-degrade??
My spring collection of totes include canvas, non-woven, poly pro, plastic, cloth, cotton and even one that’s specially insulated for frozen foods. I’m dying to get one from Empire Wines that has the special sections for your wines! Who knew there were so many selections when it comes to being environmentally friendly?? Choices, choices…
I also cooked up the idea to use the recyclable bags as gift bags. When our “Arkansas-by-the-way-of-Boston” friend Melissa Simas got married last year, we gave her wedding gift in a Red Sox reusable tote! We’ve also used several Cardinals bags for all of gift wrapping needs.
Being a “trendy hippie” give us a new outlet to stand out from the crowd. (And, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.) At a cost of $1-$2 per bag, it’s not a huge investment, but the environmental impact fashion statement goes a long way! I’m all about Mother Earth and going green. But let’s be real folks…I really just like to look cute!