The mountains of things we throw away
are much greater than the things we use.In this, if in no other way,
we can see the wild and reckless exuberance of our production,
and waste seems to be the index.-John Steinbeck,
Travels With Charley
I’ve written before about my attempts to live the life less plastic, and in particular my attempt to stop using those awful thin plastic bags in the produce section.
Plastic is fossil fuel-intensive to create, and it never goes away. Never. It just breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces, eventually being consumed by larger creatures, taking up more and more room in their stomachs until they starve to death; or breaking down still further, absorbing pollutants, and working its way up the food chain.
We can’t speak of a sustainable lifestyle without talking plastic, because we can’t possibly continue to consume and throw away at this rate.
I was recently sent a set of organic cotton reusable produce bags from A Greener Kitchen to try out. A Greener Kitchen offers eco-friendly kitchen & dining products, including organic cotton aprons, bamboo cutting boards, eco-friendly cleaning tools and biodegradable trash bags.
The produce bags are actually made using upcycled material left over from the organic cotton aprons (as a compulsive sewing scrap collector this detail delights me). Each set consists of six bags in varying sizes: two 6”x7” (appropriate for small snacks or things like bulk spices, nuts or maybe blueberries), two 9”x9” (apples and grapes and whatnot) and two 12”x16” bags (celery, asparagus). They feel elegant and look like little works of art, really.
Our organic cotton products are cut and sewn in the USA by family-owned Tailoredwear, Inc. using fabric from Harmony Art, one of the USA’s few eco-friendly textile artisans. Harmony Art sources their organic cotton from Texas and India. For their fabrics made in India, the fiber is Fair Trade Certified, and the fabric is produced in a Fair Trade certified facility.
Now, the other reusable bags I have are mesh, so cashiers can find the SKU code without opening the bag. In theory. In reality, they always want to open the bag, presumably to make sure I’m not stealing caviar and saffron. So the fact that these bags aren’t see-through doesn’t bother me in the least, and the genius little attached elastic loop make it easy for the cashier to peek inside and confirm that I’m not robbing them blind.
And then reclose so I don’t have blueberries rolling around my trunk.
A Greener Kitchen’s Organic Cotton Reusable Produce Bags are available for purchase here for $24.95. While you’re there, check out the rest of their lovely organic cotton kitchen products— aprons, reusable produce bags, napkins, and table runners. (I LOVE TABLE RUNNERS, BTW.)
Win It!
A Greener Kitchen is giving away a set of reusable produce bags to one lucky reader! Just follow the directions below to enter.
