Bag It: Plastic & Poverty.

"There is no away...." This is the premise of Bag It. We use plastic because it is "disposable," but that doesn't mean it goes away.

Bag It: The Movie examines the impact of plastic on our world. Watch the trailer below to get a taste of what the movie is about.

I can't wait to see this film ... I see a plastics free popcorn & movie night in my future! Go here to schedule a screening for your community or to hear when the DVD will be available. And visit the Bag It blog for ideas on how you can be part of the move away from plastics.

At Zimbags we want to encourage people to eliminate their reliance on disposable (but not get-rid-able) bags. We offer beautiful solutions to this ugly problem. And on top of bagging the need for plastic bags we are also working to bag poverty. The proceeds from each bag go back to the women artists in Zimbabwe who are rising above extreme poverty. Visit our store to start your reusable collection. Join the bag revolution.

When you eliminate your use of plastic bags you help improve the environment, save money, and when you use Zimbags, you help women who are working to overcome extreme poverty.

For proof of the impact your reusable bag can make, check out this sign spotted at a Whole Foods in West Hartford, CT and seen on the EcoBags blog:

Bag plastic & poverty!

-The Happy Bag Elves

ECObags

Check it out.... ECObags is tweeting about us: http://twitter.com/ECOBAGSdotCOM. Watch Lauren fill one Zimbag with 3 plastic bags worth of groceries.

Become their fan on facebook to see the cool things happening with reusable bags and for ways to get involved.

Zimbags are made from ECObags and we love them!

-The Happy Bag Elves

Zimbags at the market....

June 1st marked Zimbags' first trip to the Farmer's Market. We had so much fun, in spite of the chilly weather. We were able to tell the Zimbags story, get some stylish bags into the hands of market-goers, and eat some yummy food.

June 15th was our 2nd trip and was even better because the sun decided to make an appearance!

Our hope is that the Farmer's Market will be a great place to spread the word about Zimbags, get reusable bags into the hands of shoppers to reduce the use of plastic bags, and show off the beautiful work of our women artists.

Our next date is June 29th .... we really hope to see you there! And if you can't come to the Crossroads Farmer's Market in Bellevue, Washington -- you could buy a Zimbag Shopper and a Zimarket Mini to make trips to your local farmer's market easier and more environmentally friendly.

Here are some pictures from the June 15th trip....




Thanks for all your support,
The Happy Bag Elves

The Impact of Plastic Bags

Imagine your favorite place: the beach, the mountains, a local park, or your own backyard. Now picture the animals there dying as they are entangled in plastic bags, mistake plastic bags for food, or eat and drink from contaminated sources. Imagine plastic bags clinging to tree branches and tumbling across lawns. It shouldn’t be hard to envision these awful scenes; this is the reality of our environment.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. uses 100 billion plastic shopping bags every year, if you add to that the plastic wrapping and packaging, Americans are the largest consumer of plastic in the world. Every minute one million bags are consumed worldwide. Billions of these bags end up as litter each year and only 1% of plastic bags are ever recycled.

Plastic bags don’t bio-degrade, they photo-degrade (break down into smaller toxic fragments) which causes toxins to enter animals’ nutritional sources, as well as contaminating water and soil that humans use everyday. Plastic bags are made from polyethylene, which is a petroleum product, and this makes the toxins even more dangerous. The fact that these bags are a made from petroleum means that the production of these bags are wasting oil and energy that could be used more wisely.

Countries around the world are implementing innovative new laws and taxes to reduce the use and impact of plastic bags. In 2002, Ireland introduced a plastic bag consumption tax, PlasTax, which has reduced consumption by 90%. Because plastic bags are made from polyethylene, this move by Ireland has saved approximately 18,000,000 liters of oil. In Australia, about 90% of retailers have signed up with the government's voluntary program to reduce plastic bag use. Other countries who have banned the bags or taken steps to reducing their use include: Bangladesh, Italy, South Africa, Mumbai (formerly Bombay), and India.
Companies who are making an effort to reduce the use of plastic bags here in the United States include: Ikea (they now charge customers who use plastic bags) and Whole Foods (the company will take off 5 cents for each reusable bag a customer brings in).
With so many options for reusable bags why not stop using plastic bags? You could save animals, oil, and our environment. Let’s leave our earth green for the next generation!

Sources:
Environmental Protection Agency
The Seattle Times
PlusTax
The Washington Post