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| FYI: We're having our year-end inventory clearance sale. Your chance to get outstanding reusables at great prices - up to 70% off! |
2009 marked another transformative year for the reusables movement (and our company). We've continued with our mission to change society's use-and-toss mentality by leading with sound advice and outstanding products - all designed to help adopt a reusables lifestyle.
More people are coming to terms with the negative impacts of addiction to use-and-toss items, and we're seeing evolution on a global scale. Like with anything, we've seen positive (and a few negative) trends grow from this. Our Top 5 Trends of 2009 below will give you a quick digest with links to learn more.
Here's a quick recap of some of our 2009 accomplishments:
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Thanks for your support - none of this would be possible without you. Together we are making a difference!  Vincent Cobb -- Founder, ReusableBags.com |
1. A growing number of bag fees and bans pass in U.S. despite plastic industry's big spending to stop them
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This year, the plastic bag industry strategically spent millions of dollars, used its lobbying power and waged grassroots campaigns in its fight against plastic bag fees and bans showing up on ballots across the country. Seattle's 25-cent bag fee was narrowly defeated - overpowered by a massive, industry-lead counter campaign fueled with an estimated $1 million. However, many cities did pass fees - most notably Washington, DC and Fairbanks, AK. An increasing number of cities also passed bag bans.
As common myths about bag fees are dispelled and the shortcomings of bans as a long-term solution start coming to light, we expect many more fees (based on Ireland's successful PlasTax) to come into effect in 2010. |
2. Big retailers provide incentives to BYOB
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 This year, more and more retailers (including some big names) started moving beyond the allure of hawking cheap reusable bags as a hot marketing tool (they're walking billboards that say "I'm a green retailer!") to encouraging people to use any reusable bag with smart incentives. Following the lead of pioneers like Whole Foods, Trader Joes and IKEA, giant mainstream retailer CVS now offers a $1 coupon for every four times a customer shops with a reusable bag. Mega-retailer Target was soon to follow. Even Wal-Mart has begun phasing out free plastic bags in dozens of its northern California locations. |
3. BPA issue continues to escalate
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 When we wrapped up the top news stories of 2008, the BPA controversy was just heating up. While initial concerns swirled primarily around baby bottles, in 2009, the discussion broadened to drinking/food containers and, most troubling, canned foods - a pervasive source of BPA exposure. Additionally, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences announced that it will spend roughly $30 million over the next two years to study BPA and the increasing evidence of the range of its ill effects. For more on BPA, read our FAQ. |
4. Cheap reusables flood the marketplace
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 Reusables went mainstream in 2009. While it's great to see the trend take hold among consumers, many eager manufacturers have jumped on the bandwagon and flooded the marketplace with mass-produced, low-price/low-quality reusables. Because of their short lifecycles (and questionable safety and production standards), cheap reusables essentially defeat their intended purpose - which is to reduce consumption!
Unless people wake up to the problems inherent to cheap reusables, the plague of poor-quality drinking bottles, flimsy polypropylene bags, etc. will become as problematic as the disposables they were designed to replace!
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5. The great Pacific garbage patch is even worse than thought - and it's not the only one!
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 As part of raising awareness to plastic accumulating in our oceans, we called attention to the giant floating gyre of plastic waste in the Pacific. Now, it's known to be just one of five throughout our oceans. The giant chunks of plastic such as lawn chairs and milk jugs that made for startling news coverage aren't the worst of it.
Contrary to the common myth, when plastic breaks down over time, it doesn't biodegrade - it just breaks down into tinier and tinier pieces of plastic. These tiny pieces become toxic bombs, since plastic absorbs PCBs, DDT and other toxic chemicals. Countless fish and other marine animals are ingesting them, passing the toxins up the food chain to us. In recent water samples taken from the Pacific patch, researchers found twice as much plastic as in samples from a decade ago.
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About Us
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Acting as a hub, ReusableBags.com spreads
awareness by educating consumers with facts on consumption/litter, and provides summaries
of news
articles and trends from around the
world on the global push to reduce plastic
bag consumption.
Our store features a growing
family of smart, earth-friendly products all
designed to help you reduce, reuse and
save™.
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What Customers Are Saying
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"...what you guys are doing is absolutely
awesome... once again thank you for all your
efforts..." -- Emily M.
"Thanks for a wonderful shopping experience.
You make it easier for us to go green." --
Christina S.
"I LOVE every one of your products that we
own... and whenever I think that I could use
something to make my family's life more
earth-friendly, I go on your website and
there it is!" -- Isabel G.
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Reasons to Shop With Us
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 - We donate 1% of sales to environmental causes - We support Fair Trade practices
- Winner "Green Business of the Year" Co-Op America People's Choice Award, 2007
- BizRate Circle of Excellence Gold Honoree, 2008
- Member BBBonline
- Most orders ship within 24 hrs
- No sales tax (except IL)
- 17,000+ product reviews & testimonials
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ReusableBags.com in the News
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