I'm Julie, and I live Australian suburbia. This blog is the online journal I kept to record my family's journey towards living more simply & sustainably.

This blog is on indefinite hiatus but feel free to look around my archives for some inspiration in your own journey to living more lightly and sustainably. Please note that Blogger has 'eaten' some of my older photos which I am unable to retrieve at the moment.

I am now blogging at Our Simple Days, if you would like to stop by.


Monday, February 07, 2011

Reusable Bags Giveaway

From the number of emails I am receiving at the moment, there are a great many of us who have made a commitment to reduce the amount of waste they are responsible for this year.  I know that our household waste has been creeping back up to an unacceptable level and I am determined to do something about it.  Reusable shopping bags have fortunately become the norm these days, but it is much less common, in my experience anyway, to see people using reusable alternatives for their fresh produce.

As such, my blogger friend Kelly who runs the online eco-store The Ethicurean, has generously offered an awesome reusable bag giveaway - a sample set of one each of her three types of ethically-produced, reusable cotton bags, and a market tote!






Kelly's bags are all Fair-wage produced and are printed using azo-free dyes.  The winner will receive one each of her beautiful organic, recycled cotton produce bags, one unbleached cotton French gauze bag (pictured above), and one unbleached cotton net produce bag, perfect for fruit and veg (pictured below),




as well as one of her HUGE unbleached, organic recycled cotton market totes:




I'm not affiliated with Kel, but I LOVE these bags so I am more than happy to shamelessly promote them for her as a favour ;-)  I get lots of comments when I am shopping, not just because they are so versatile and useful, but because they are beautiful too.

Prior to buying some of Kel's bags, I had been using a set of plastic nylon netting bags, two of which had already torn. Kel's bags are so strong that I can see them being in use for many years. I tend to use the recycled cotton produce bags for bulk beans and rice (but they would be perfect for flour etc as well); the French gauze bags are terrific for bulk seeds, and greens which need refrigeration and I use the netting bags for fruit and veg - but the bags are so versatile you could use them for so many other items.  You can read more about her eco-philosophy here.


If you wish to go into the running for a set of these bags and the market tote, just leave me a comment on this post before Friday night, AEST.

Post on this giveaway will be Australia-wide only unfortunately, but there are a number of international companies producing similarly eco-great reusable bags around the world if you Google :-)

The winner will be chosen by the good old random integer generator - good luck!


**** COMMENTS ARE NOW CLOSED ****


Cheers,


60 comments:

SOEWNEARTH said...

Oh my yes that would be positively amazing. Just moving back to Tas for the uni year and it is always difficult to carry enough of anything and of course the budget is stretched.

Psylova said...

What a lovely idea for a giveaway! Thanks! I've always wanted to try these bags.

Lightening said...

Reusable produce bags is what I really need to purchase next. These look great!

karab said...

I LOVE reusable produce bags! I've made a few of my own (now tatty and torn), and get lots of comments at the check-outs...and concern from clerks who want to unpack them to weigh the stuff....I decline and explain I am happy to pay the fraction of a cent extra just to NOT have all that plastic!

Vic said...

Those bags looks great!

miss*R said...

I am just in the middle of sorting my own pantry etc out.. after moving ~ 53yrs young and still learning.. would love these bags!
living in NSW Australia - so I am eligible ~ ta... now, off to see her website :)

mskittenkaboodle said...

These look great, thanks Julie for the info and the fantastic blog!

simplelife said...

How can I not enter this, being a baglady extreme.

They look lovely too, unlike my homemade ones!!

cheers Kate

Liz said...

I was having a conversation with someone the other day, who said that people have to use plastic for their fruit and veg. I would love to win these bags, not only because I would love using them, but so that I can show them to my friend and say, see, you don't need to use plastic at all.

Liz

Darren (Green Change) said...

Righto, I'm in! The bags do look good. I like that they're neutral, not too girly, so I could be seen carrying them :-).

Anne said...

These look fantastic Julie, I have reusable bags but they are very ordinary looking, not like these smart ones.

Fay said...

Would love to have a set of these bags.A great way to carry all of produce home from the farmers market.
Beautiful and simple design too.

Anonymous said...

Oh, I'd love a set of these too - and a giveaway certainly encourages all of us readers who don't normally comment, to comment now! ;-)

Glad you're back Julie.

Sarah
(NSW)

Anonymous said...

Just realised I came up as anonymous - Since I don't have a google account, I'm
Sarah from Alfords Point, NSW

:-)

lorraine said...

These look great, thanks Julie for the info,I have often wondered where to get these bags so would love the chnace to try and also use them ,thankyou

Anonymous said...

These bags look fantastic I would love one of those beautiful canvas bags! Thanks for the giveaway Julie.
Hannah from Qld.

Busy mum of 3 said...

Well I'll have to be "In it to win it" as the saying goes. I more often than not use reuseable shopping bags, but I'm one of those who hasn't delved into the reuseable fresh produce bags yet, although I once got as far as googling how to make my own...does that count? :)

Lanie at Edible Urban Garden said...

So glad to see that there is a viable alternative to plastic bags for your fruit and veg. I tend to just grapple with them or put them in my huge reusable bags..but that is great. I've bookmarked her site..and am about to buy. After you posted about school lunch bags I noticed that our wonderful local wholefood + so much more superstore (AboutLife in Rozelle, Sydney) had a big stand of similar bags.

Carol said...

Wow what a great idea these bags are I have been working hard to reduce our rubbish these would help immensly

Donna said...

My hand is up to win one of these gorgeous bags. So much cuter than the old green bag! thanks for giving us the chance.

Sue said...

these bags are gorgeous

Bronwyn said...

I have recently bought a sample set of the fruit and veg bags after reading your post, they are really nice and do a great job. I highly recommend them.

M said...

For those of us who try to not use bags, these would be a great set to have in the work bag, car or for that unexpected shopping visit. They sound great

idunhoe said...

I'd love a set. I try to avoid plastic when ever possible and these would help. :-)

Rose said...

Julie they look fabulous, please enter me the draw, I'd love to take them to our produce market. Thank you.

Bron66 said...

These bags look great. I need something to store potatoes etc from the garden. I have a thing for bags but you can never have too many!

Barbara said...

Would love a chance to go away with these bags! I'm the lady who stands in the grocery line with all her produce just sitting on the belt in no bags.. the cashiers are never very impressed and my husband begs me to use bags but I just can't!

Jayne said...

I would love to shop with these bags! Thanks for the opportunity Julie.

mummalu said...

brilliant! I just usually end up reusing my plastic bags, but of course they don't last very long. Loved the look of thesebags

Kylie said...

Thanks for this post, Julie. The bags look like a great idea. I'd love to be in the draw.

Beet said...

Those bags look terrific. You really don't see reusable produce bags much.

Stephanie said...

I have just discovered your wonderful blog! LOVE IT!!

Michael from Canberra said...

Hi I'd love to go in the draw. They look like a great product!

About O.O.D. said...

ahh, lovely, would be great to have these bags. Love your site!

Meghan said...

I love these bags. We buy most of our things in bulk so these would be excellent!!

Kara said...

Those bags look great, I always suprise my husband by telling him you don't need to put your fruit and veg in plastic bags when you buy it, I just put it all straight into the basket.

Alexandra said...

Reusable eco friendly bags - it gets better all the time.

Count me in please for the draw.

ABA said...

I've been getting so many great tips from your blog Julie - thanks for sharing :-) I re-use the plastic produce bags but hadn't gotten around to getting fabric ones. I'd love to win these!

africanaussie said...

What a great give-away, count me in. I made myself some veggie bags but they are not see through and can be a bit of a pain to sort through when in a hurry. Those net bags look like the answer!

Tracie said...

I just love bags of any type. Please enter me in the giveaway, they look fantastic.

Tracie

rainbowsanddaydreams said...

Wonderful prize! I have a collection of reusable bags but would love to widen that collection, I don't have a produce bag yet. :D

Cat J B said...

Beautiful bags!

I bought some lovely sourdough bread last week and it went into a fairly tough plastic bag. When it ran out I thought hmmm, I wonder if they will put the next loaf back in the same bag for me if I bring it in? Thought I might get some odd looks or a flat out refusal, but no problem! Yay! When that bag wears out, maybe I'll bring in a cloth bag or some such instead.

Nicole said...

These bags would be perfect for doing my shopping at our local organic markets on the weekend.

Clare said...

what a great giveaway - I've been thinking about how to further reduce the amount of waste my house generates and these would be perfect little helpers!

HappyEarth said...

Oh these bags do look lovely - and it is so hard to find bags that are Fair Trade produced, thanks for letting us know about them!

And fabulous to see your blogging mojo is back Julie :-)

Cheers,

Ally
www.happyearth.com.au

granny said...

I would love to be in the draw :0)
I havent used a produce bag yet..and I know I should.
Thankyou Julie !

Kristi Bryant said...

I just found your page while looking for an orange and passionfruit cordial recipe! Terrific work, love your style!

dillpickle said...

I think about reusable produce bags every time I go to the fruit shop. I need to act on that thought rather than just think it and feel guilty!

This is a great idea for a giveaway!! Thanks xx.

Rochelle said...

These would be fabulous to take to the growers market and community garden.
Thanks for the opportunity to go in the draw to win these :-)

Anonymous said...

These look lovely Julie and I would love some. Thanks for the chance to maybe, win some.

Patricia
Gold Coast

Debbie said...

Thanks for all the information as I need a few more bags

joyjoyc said...

You can never have enough eco bags!

Chamali said...

I love Kelly's ideas on sustainability and am very impressed about the amount of effort she put in to making the whole lifecycle of the product ethical and sustainable. I was at a community feedback and consultation session for EPA and Environment Victoria in Melbourne today. The topics of discussion were landfill, reducing waste to zero and resources. Of the many interesting points raised, packaging (excessive and wasteful) was the one that hit home for me as I've ranted and raved against it for a long time. The Ethicurean bags are a perfect example of a manufacturer thinking about the long term impact of their product while doing away with packaging. Wish there were more businesses like Kelly's.

Bruise Mouse said...

These bags are gorgeous. Thanks for running such a great giveaway.

Xuan said...

I've stopped using bags altogether for fruits and veggies (I just leave them loose). But I never thought to use reusable bags for the bulk bins! Genius!

Zoƫ Rixon said...

What a great way to raise awareness of the evil of plastic bags. Thanks guys!

Lucy said...

Love these bags! I made some similar ones with old mosquito netting, worked a treat. And if the occassional plastic produce bag still slips into my house it gets used as a dog poop bag!

Natsu said...

I have myriad uses for these bags which causes its own issues, because if I have used it for shoes while traveling, then I tend not to want to use it for my fruit/veg. Another supply of the same would be perfect.

susiecol said...

Thanks Julie, these bags look terrific and a great way forward. I usually recycle the plastic variety until they fall apart but will definitely be looking at these as a much more sustainable alternative. Yep, love 'em.
susan

Anonymous said...

My old produce bags go to my friend who picks up her dog's refuse with them.
Does anyone have any other ideas of how to pick up dog do from the street?

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