I bags that!

Easter is just a few days away and hopefully, that means some chocolate eggs for me. It’s a weakness, I know. But one I am prepared to admit and I wish my better half reads this and dashes out to get me my chocolate fix. It seems like we are just getting over Christmas. I am still coming across gift bags in the closet. Yeah, we don’t throw them away anymore. The reason being that the little carry bags that hold your gifts these days are personally printed with your name and a message.

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It was a stroke of genius by the owner of this business to make not only something a little different but to make them in such a way that you are not going to throw them away and will use them again. If you do dispose of them, they are made of paper, so environmentally they are a good purchase for the two reasons. This company has diversified and they now make a whole range of bags that carry a message.

Some great designs are available and you can advertise on them as well! How clever is that? If that wasn’t enough, they also make sandwich bags into which the local shop pops your ham and cheese and mustard sandwich or your donut, whatever, and there is an advertisement on the outside. The ad can be for the shop itself that makes your sandwiches or it can be for any business that sees it as an opportunity to make themselves be known around the local area. Throw the bag away? Okay, it’s entirely degradable as it’s made of paper.

Some other stuff he uses is fabrics which, again, are very environmentally friendly. The next step is to print on wrapping paper as well. That takes personalisation to a new level, that’s for sure. From the eco-friendly point of view, it’s good to see that we are becoming more aware of the damage that is being wrought by plastic bags. The realisation has spread to most major supermarkets and shopping centres who either charge you for a plastic bag or offer to sell you an environmentally friendly substitute. I know many people buck at the idea of paying £0.50 for a bag (or more), but once you throw a plastic bag away it will stick around on this planet for a few hundred years! Yes, an innocuous little plastic bag has the longevity that a human would love to have!

Every bit of support should be given to anybody that sees an alternative to plastic and then can see an opportunity for change as well, both financially and environmentally. We don’t use plastic bags anymore. Our problem is remembering to take the expensive bag to the shop with us the next shopping trip. In the meantime the cupboard is filling up with the alternative shopping bags, causing our own, internal, personal environmental problem!