Eco-Friendly Products

Airline travel today is far, far different from airline travel several years ago. Prices have gone up and the convenience of flying has gone down. We're now charged extra to check bags and are lucky if we get a bag of peanuts and a drink on a flight. All in all, traveling on an airplane has become less and less enjoyable for the majority of consumers. If you're looking for a way to simplify your airline travel, one thing you might consider taking along with you is a reusable shopping bag. While this may sound a bit silly at first, it will come in handy during your trip.

Fashionable reusable shopping bags can be found at a variety of places these days and they are generally very affordable. You can get a bag that has a "fold up" or "packable" design which allows you to stuff the bag into a smaller carrying sack that easily will fit into a pocket or purse. So, during your vacation if you happen to go shopping, you can whip out your bag to carry your new goodies back to your hotel in. A lot of these bags are very lightweight, meaning you'll hardly notice it in your pocket or purse but are capable of carrying up to 25 pounds. During travel, you can use your reusable bag to carry a purse, a magazine/book, a neck pillow, and any other items that would normally be "on their own" during your flight. A good reusable bag gives you a place to keep everything secure when you need to but something that can be put out of the way when you need that as well.

Reusable shopping bags also double as great beach bags or bags for carrying personal belongings on a day trip during your vacation. They'll easily hold a towel, sunscreen, personal items, and a book with plenty of room for other items. Or, if you decide a picnic in the park would be a great way to spend your afternoon in a new city, your reusable grocery bag will easily carry all your picnic needs. This helps eliminate the need to bring a separate beach bag, backpack, or similar item for such purposes, meaning you can travel with fewer bulky items which will translate to more convenience.

Reusable bags are great for our environment as they replace plastic bags in our everyday shopping. However, they have many more uses than bringing groceries home. Bringing a reusable bag on your next travel adventure is a great idea as it will ensure you continue to be an eco-friendly shopper while you travel and will also come in handy serving many roles.

If you're one of the many that has wholeheartedly adopted a more eco-conscious lifestyle and are looking for new ways to be more environmentally friendly, a great idea is to start shopping for more locally grown food. Sure, you're all decked out in your organic cotton clothing, driving a hybrid, carrying reusable shopping bags, etc. but there are still steps that you can take to make a difference.

It is truly amazing how much of an impact we can make while we do one of American's favorite activities – shopping. Reusable grocery bags, packaging made from recycled materials, organic foods, and so on all help to contribute to a much more eco-friendly shopping experience than one would have had 10 years ago. An re-emergence of locally grown foods is helping our efforts.

Here's why:

1. Locally grown foods do not have to be transported very far, cutting down on fuel consumption, pollution, and costs.

2. A growing majority of locally grown food is organically grown, meaning no harmful chemicals or pesticides were used.

3. Buying from a local business supports your local economy, and many local economies need a some stimulation.

4. Locally grown food, especially in rural areas, is grown by small farmers. By purchasing their goods you not only support them but you als take away from the large, conventional farmers who notoriously use toxic chemicals to grow crops.

5. Locally grown means fresher food most of the time. Freshness translates to more taste and less spoilage.

It's fantastic that people throughout the world are doing their part to help the planet. Simply switching to reusable grocery bags contributes to saving marine life and reduces the amount of money your town has to spend on cleaning up litter and waste associated with plastic bags. Likewise, purchasing foods that are locally grown can help our environment by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and toxic chemical use.

By taking steps to benefit our planet we also take steps to benefit all of mankind. So the next time you're out shopping, take the extra step to shop for local goods and contribute to the growing green movement.

Making the choice to stop using disposable paper and plastic bags in favor of reusable shopping bags doesn't have to be a fashion faux-pas as you might think. In actuality, using reusable shopping bags in and of itself has become somewhat of a fashion statement and today you can find more bags designed with as much focus on fashion as eco-consciousness. Here are a few examples of ways in which you can be eco-friendly and fashionable:

Lauren Bush (niece of President George W. Bush) released her second set of bags in her FEED line in May of last year. The bags retailed for $29.99 and were available through Whole Foods grocery stores. This was the second set of bags in her line, the originals were sold on Amazon.com for $59.99. Beyond looking good and helping reduce the use of disposable bags, each FEED bag that is bought also provides 100 meals for underprivileged school children through the United Nations World Food Program. These bags are win/win/win!

LilyEcolo is another company that is trying to make fashionable green bags. They offer a variety of fashionable bags and totes from shopping bags to an "all-in-one" bag that is designed to carry purchases as well as you wallet, phone, keys, and so on. The company encourages everyone to make a daily difference by using reusable shopping bags.

Finally, a relative newcomer to the reusable bags industry, Reusable Bags Depot offers a number of lightweight reusable shopping bags in fashionable patterns. Beyond looking better than other bags, their bags also pack in to a small carrying pouch that makes them easier to store and carry around with you on those trips where you're not sure if you're going to buy something or not.

Packed Bag from Reusable Bags Depot

There site is also full of tons of information about the benefits of using reusable shopping bags.

Nowadays, using reusable shopping bags is become one of the "hip" things to do. With the growing selection of attractive shopping bags available, you now have the ability to do "what's hip" with a "hip" looking bag!

One of the primary reasons that people are now using reusable shopping bags is that they consume far less energy in the long run than either paper or plastic single-use bags. The United States consumes about one billion plastic bags every year which requires over 12 million barrels of oil for production. Simply put, plastic shopping bags are an unnecessary use of finite resources when there is an economically and environmentally friendly alternative – reusable shopping bags.

Most people are surprised to learn that paper bags require more energy to produce than plastic bags, but they do. In fact, paper bags require nearly three and a half times as much energy than plastic. Paper bags also consume more fossil fuels and water during their production than plastic bags that can carry the same amount of stuff. In other words, paper bags are the least energy efficient of the group, although neither paper or plastic comes close to the benefits of using reusable bags for years.

Single-use compostable bags are also available in some places, although they are pretty energy intensive as well. While they are better for the environment in the later stages of their life (they obviously degrade faster and safer), they do require over 3 times the amount of energy to produce that plastic bags require.

In the end, if you had to pick one, regular plastic bags (polyethylene) are the most energy-efficient, but still fall short when compared to reusable bags. All single-use bags present a waste of energy and consumption of fossil fuels that can be avoided – so why not avoid it? The EPA estimated that one reusable bag only needs to be use 11 times to have a lesser environmental impact than disposable bags. Considering that most reusable bags last for several years, the benefits are easy to see. Using reusable bags will pay for itself in the long run as most stores offer discounts to people that bring their own bags. Additionally, the environmental benefits are invaluable.