I'm happy to say that I'm back from my very long blog hiatus. You all know how it is with life changes taking place, right? Nothing major has happened, the girls are just getting bigger and demanding more attention and time. I've been trying to manage my time more wisely and I'm still learning how to juggle everything.
I'm pretty excited that my return to blogging is actually a giveaway post! I actually celebrated my 32nd birthday yesterday, but one of my lucky readers will be getting some great gifts.
One of my favorite people, Natalie Slater of Bake & Destroy fame, is also PR extraordinaire for reuseit.com. Reuseit.com is an online company passionate about helping customers live a life reducing, reusing, and saving. Natalie told me that reuseit.com is happy to offer a few prizes to Early Bird Special readers to celebrate Earth Day!
- Reuseit Produce & Snack Bags made of Organic Cotton Muslin. Forget the single use plastic bags for your produce, and put your greens in these! These bags would be great for snacks, gift bags, or craft supplies! I would love to put current projects, floss, or hoops in these bags. For this prize I've selected: 1 Extra Large + 2 Large + 2 Small Bags = 5 Produce & Snack Bags.
- Reuseit Workhorse in Hemp. This is the natural fiber version of one of Reuseit's best-selling bags. It can hold up to 25lbs, and it can be folded up and stored in a compact pouch attached inside the bag. I'm not sure how well the folding up and compact storage would go if you plan to embroider or cross-stitch on these bags. You don't want to hide your stitches away, now do you? For this prize I've selected: 1 Blue + 1 Natural + 1 Acorn + 1 Green = 4 Hemp Workhorse Bags.
- Reuseit Hemp & Organic Cotton Napkins, Set of 4. Ahh yes, the classic cloth napkin. You can't go wrong here. Reuseit says this set is a blend of organic cotton and hemp, so they're soft and durable. Sounds perfect. For this prize I've selected: 1 Set of 4 Napkins in Natural.
- Reuseit Dual Handled Tote in Hemp. I love embroidering on totes, don't you? However, my fingers don't always love the stiffness of canvas. Since this tote is made of a hemp and organic cotton blend, it's lightweight but strong. Did you know that hemp fabric is 4x stronger than cotton fabric of the same weight? Also, the more you use your hemp products, the softer they get. Learn more about nature's super fiber, hemp. Oh, and this tote gets extra points for sporting short and long handles. Score. For this prize I've selected: 2 Dual Handled Hemp Totes in Natural.
Ok, so maybe you're not having a stellar day, and you don't want to be bummed out by plastic bag horror stories. Then leave a comment telling me what you're doing in your life to lessen your impact on the Earth. Are you a gardener? A second-hand clothing extraordinaire? Home Thrift Home? Got a tried and true natural cleaning method? Tell me all about it in the comments! Winner will be chosen at random on Earth Day - Friday April 22, 2011.
Good Luck!
UPDATE: I'll be leaving the comments open to allow for more entries until 11:59pm CST tonight! I'll email the winner, then post all about it this weekend. Again, good luck!
Welcome back and Happy Birthday! What an awesome giveaway. :)
ReplyDeleteThe thing that struck me was, "More than 3.5 million tons of plastic bags, sacks and wraps were discarded in 2008." That's not 3.5 million bags...it's 3.5 million TONS of bags. !!!! :(
The fact that most struck me was that "A single plastic bag can take up to 1,000 years to degrade."
ReplyDelete1,000 years!
That is a long, long time :(
I always carry two nylon reusable bags in my purse. I usually remember to grab some shopping bags to take to the grocery store, but I don't think of it when I am shopping in the mall. Having the bags in my purse all the time means that I don't need to use any plastic bags!
ReplyDeleteGlad you are back!
I always get my clothes from a second hand store.
ReplyDeleteI love recycling old things!
What a great giveaway - welcome back, Amy! I do most of my shopping, both for my wardrobe and home decor, at thrift stores. I love finding treasures, or reworking things to make them perfect. I also use cloth napkins and towels rather than paper, recycle as many things as I possibly can, and almost always walk or ride my scooter instead of driving.
ReplyDelete"About 1 million plastic bags are used every minute."
ReplyDeleteThat's an insane number.
I'm redoubling my focus on Never Taking Another Plastic Bag and using Responsible Reuseables Only.
criminey.
Oh wow, that stuff looks awesome! Here's the fact that got me: "Plastic bags remain toxic even after they break down." Yuck, ugh, oy. I really need to get more reusable ones. I lost mine in the break-up.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to see you back to blogging!
This makes me so sad:
ReplyDelete"Every square mile of ocean has about 46,000 pieces of plastic floating in it." :(
Happy Birthday and thanks for having this wonderful giveaway!
"Plastic bags remain toxic even after they break down."
ReplyDeleteUgh.
Cute reuseable stuff!!
I bike to work and try to bike or walk places when I can. I also try to use reusable bags, but after hearing this information, I'm even more motivated to do so!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great giveaway!
I carpool to work, and am cheap when it come parting with my money. My cheapness usually ensures that I am not buying item I don't need (like bottled water when I can dring water from the tap), or excessive amounts of any product. I always try to wait until and item is at the end of its "life" before replacing it (like clothes or my 30 year old, avocado-colored dryer).
ReplyDeleteThanks for the giveaway!
robyn(dot)geddes(at)gmail(dot)com
Ugh, I can't stand the thought of the ocean being filled with mostly trash bags and cigarette butts...gross! Poor baby sea creatures!
ReplyDeleteThanks for giving away these bags and promoting more eco-friendly practices. The little things just add up!
I read through the facts and frankly, all of it sickens me. I use reusable bags as often as possible or just request no bag and stick the small/singular item in my purse after purchase.
ReplyDeleteBut really, the fact that sticks the most in my head is not a fact at all, but a personal experience.
I grew up on an island and participated regularly in beach clean-ups. The day the impact of plastic bag use hit home was the day I found a dead cormorant on the rocks with a plastic bag tangled around his neck. He hadn't been able to get free of it. Pretty jarring for an 11yo. I'm 30 now and haven't gone back to plastic bags since.
First off YAY glad your back!
ReplyDeleteSecond,thank you for the website find, I love a lot of their stuff.
The U.S. goes through 100 billion single-use plastic bags. This costs retailers about $4 billion a year. This is crazy. Just the amount of money alone is astonishing.
Great to see you back Amy!
ReplyDeleteI have to say I DO love my Brita (take THAT plastic bottles), Use my own bags for shopping and recycle what I can. Baby steps. :)
Happy belated birthday, friend!
ReplyDeleteI just heard a report on the over abundance of plastic and it just sickens me.
I've got a garden growing, use very little plastic in general, and am always looking to broaden my greenness. :)
Hi Amy,
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday!
(mine is tomorrow!)
The plastic bag pandemic fact that's so hard to wrap my mind around is: It is estimated that worldwide plastic bag consumption falls between 500 billion and 1 trillion bags annually. That breaks down to almost 1 million every minute.
This is so alarming! I use reusable bags whenever possible and recycle all the time.
Thanks for this great giveaway and welcome back!
these facts were very interesting yet disturbing. I had several that I felt was my top "shocker" but I did feel this one was the most needed to be mentioned:
ReplyDeleteThe extremely slow decomposition rate of plastic bags leaves them to drift on the ocean for untold years. According to Algalita Marine Research Foundation, these plastic bags cause the death of many marine animals (fish, sea turtles, etc.), every year when animals mistake them for food.
that is so sad!
I wish we had recyling in our town we have tried to get it and they just won't. Until then when I throw away a bag I feel horrible. I started ironing them but had to do that outside. Then I was just collecting them till it was one huge ball.
Using these bags in the giveaway would surely help one of us be a better person to our nature!
Sunlite705(at)(aol)
AMY my love! I am so glad you are blogging, you are top notch at it :) I am also glad that you are doing this fabulous giveaway!
ReplyDeleteThis fact struck me
Anywhere from .5% to 3% of all bags winds up recycled. (BBC, CNN)
I am a crazy recycling woman. I recycle everything. I cannot believe that more people are not recycling their bags! Lots of stores even have recycling receptacles right outside their doors that include bins for plastic bags.
The U.S. goes through 100 billion single-use plastic bags. This costs retailers about $4 billion a year. That is a crazy amount of bags.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe people aren't more aware of the damage they're causing by using plastic bags.
Happy belated Birthday!!
Love the idea of this and the prizes are stellar! WE run an Organic Spa and are eco-friendly, we recycle and have a discount program to encourage others to do the same. WE use all biodegradable materials, and cleaners, use low VOC paint, and shop locally.
ReplyDeleteWe would put some "happies" in these bags as giveaways too!
Happy Earth!!!!!
CHEERS!!!!!!
well happy birthday belated, what hits me the most is the toxin that is in the bags are still around AFTER the bag has disintegrated...meaning super simply put the poison will still be around..so let's stop making the stuff and do something else
ReplyDeleteA thousand years for a plastic bag to degrade. WOW!
ReplyDeleteI have stopped buying plastic baggies (we use tupperware or foil or something reuseable or recyclable) and I always try to bring a reuseable shopping bag with me for ALL my shopping!
ReplyDeleteI didn't know plastic bags were also TOXIC! I already use reusable carry bags regularly but now I have impetus to switch my produce bags, too. Hope I win!
ReplyDeleteI was surprised and educated by the Solution section. At first thought it seems a bag ban would help, but upon reading this it got me thinking about the fact that a ban doesn't mean people start bribing their own, it just means using more of other resources, which is sad. Clearly paper isn't a great choice (more demand for trees), and the compostable bags are probably made of corn which we already produce an insane and unhealthy amount of in this country. That being said, learning that Ireland's bag TAX made such a difference makes you think entirely differently about ways to enforce people bringing their own bags. Of course, once you start BYOBing, it becomes second
ReplyDeletenature.
The U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually at an estimated cost to retailers of $4 billion. -This just amazes me.
ReplyDelete"Plastic bags remain toxic even after they break down."
ReplyDeleteShock and Awe! Every time I hear about a product that is trying to kill me (as most disposable products are) via leeching chemicals into my body or the environment, or through other means I first get angry, then I get freaked out! To do what I can to combat the plastic craze I reuse everything I can including grocery bags, zip lock bags, I have my Lifefactory water bottle that I take with me everywhere, and as I college student, I try to submit as much material online rather than having to print it out to save paper. Little steps but I hope to do more in the future!
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI am committing to driving less and walking and biking more: even in the city I live in that is predominately a car city. I painted my bike with rainbow glitter to show the love I have for the planet, myself and others. p.s I just love cloth produce bags!
Thank you,
Jessica
rosiejess6@hotmail.com
We use cloth instead of paper when we can: bags, napkins, towels, diapers, etc.
ReplyDeleteThe fact about the amount of plastic in the oceans is staggering. It's time for a change.
lovelydomesticdiva@gmail.com
I am composting, using newspapers and cardboard in gardening, reducing reliance on anything plastic ... in general, I'm just trying to do a bit more with a bit less.
ReplyDeleteConnie B.
I thought it was interesting how few of the bags actually get recycled...but then, I've heard that the recycling is often sent overseas...on barges...and how is that eco-friendly? I'm all for reusable bags, and and when you do end up with the plastic ones, reuse them too!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the fantastic stitch-able giveaway!
What a wonderful prize you put together!
ReplyDeleteI try to lessen my environmental impact in many of the ways already mentioned: walking and biking rather than driving whenever possible, using cotton totes instead of plastic shopping bags, buying as much of my food as I can from local farmers and much of the rest from the bulk bins at the co-op using containers from home, buying clothing and household goods second hand, buying less stuff in general, and when I do buy things finding ways to reuse the packaging or recycle if it's not reusable.
Since I know the damaging effects of what people do to their planet, I want to focus on what I do to help the planet, instead of get sad about what other people do to destroy it.
ReplyDeleteThere is a trash system in my house, 5 levels to be exact. I am very responsible with my trash.
1)Compost goes to the garden area compost bin 2)paper, metal, glass, plastic bottles, gets recycled 3) plastic wrappings, get taken to Target and recycled, since they take plastic ( NOT the disposable grocery store ones, unless my husband brings those home) 4) savable items, like packaging, can be reused 5) if it has no other place, then this is the regular trash :(
I make my own grocery totes, purses, and re-useable green bags, some clothing items, especially for my son. I grow my own food to reduce the pollution on shipping it. I shared a car with my husband until recently, so as to reduce pollution also. We walk to the park, or anywhere we might need to go, within a certain distance. We support local people, local farmers, and CSA's. Try and buy used books, and got rid of TV, because I'm certain TV is bad for the environment ;-)
Thanks for mentioning the give-away. I'd love to know what kind of things you practice in your home Amy!
Best
Linda
Hi,
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday. Thanks for sharing. I'm trying to be greener these days. I try to hang my clothes on the line to dry and reuse things for a 2nd time.
Dee
Happy Birthday - and thanks for such a fab giveaway.
ReplyDeleteUgg plastic! I am trying so hard to completely eliminate it from our home, I know its awful. It makes me want to cry too! Anyway in our home, besides avoiding plastic, we try and buy organic and shop locally.
Thanks
meangreenmom[at]gmail[dot]com
I will always support to reduce the plastic. I always nag about my family and friends reduce to use. I'm feel so hard about "About 1 million plastic bags are used every minute." The figure is so scary...
ReplyDeletePlease, reduce and recycle it.
missjoeycraft AT gmail DOT com
I have and use reusable bags (but not all the time - yet), and started a garden last weekend, although none of the seeds have sprouted yet. I'm still disturbed by the picture in National Geographic recently, showing the results of combined acidic (I think) water and triclosan on a certain kind of starfish. Their legs break off.
ReplyDeleteI was around for the first Earth Day which was also my birthday so I take it very personally. I feel in the reduce, reuse, recycle scheme -- REDUCE is the one to focus on more ... I walk and bike as my preferred form of transportation
ReplyDeleteI am learning to reupholster furniture. Reusing and recovering for a healthier environment!
ReplyDeleteSara_tanner@hotmail.com
Here's the one that just kills me:"Plastic bags are the second-most common type of ocean refuse, after cigarette butts (2008)." Although this fact is from 3 years ago, I wonder if it's gotten any better? the ocean is home to so many ecosystems and provides a way of life for so many people. If we continue to poison it the consequences are epic.
ReplyDeleteThanks for drawing attention to the plastic bag issues.
Welcome Back! Love all the potential in these bags, more so in your hands than mine ;)
ReplyDeleteI have a big giant purse I carry because it can comfortably fit 5 resuse bags of all sizes. Personally I think charging for plastic bags would snap people into shape with a quickness. Just good business!
Not sure if I can join in the fun because I live abroad but I thought I'd leave a comment anyway! First: Happy belated birthday! Secondly: I always take my own durable shopping bags when I go shopping and the plastic bags that do end up at my house I use in my bins. Does that count as recycling? I really like fold up bag no 2 btw!
ReplyDeleteI was most affected by this statement:
ReplyDeleteWindblown plastic bags are so prevalent in Africa that a cottage industry has sprung up to harvest them. These are then woven and sold as hats and (more durable) bags.
This is both impressive on the part of the entrepreneurial women, but also sad that there is that many bags cluttering the cities.
heidig@gmail.com
"Anywhere from .5% to 3% of all bags winds up recycled."
ReplyDeleteThose numbers are rather shocking! I live in a tiny town in the middle of the mountains, and even we have a recycling system that far surpasses the city where I grew up. There's even a big bin especially for plastic bags!
My husband and I are using cloth diapers with our little one that will be here on June 13th (hopefully! I think I'm 'gonna die if she doesn't hurry up! Hehe) we also use cloth napkins and hand towels solely in our kitchen and try very hard to find new uses for most normal people's trash lol :)
ReplyDeleteThe fact about the oceans having so much garbage because it brings back an image I saw in a documentary about a place in the ocean as large as texas? where a large collection of garbage has pooled. Disgusting and real.
ReplyDeleteOn a brighter side, definitely I am into making as much as I can by gardening, baking, sewing, giving handmade gifts but mostly teaching my kids that THIS is the way to live. Not by consuming.
Nancy
nancebagance at yahoo dot ca
The 1 million bags used per minute. Ouch! That is terrifying!
ReplyDeleteI recently switched to a resuable bag to bring my lunch to work daily. I realized using plastic nags was a huge waste!
I have always been hesitant to use plastic bags in my life, they are just so bothersome. Sometimes it is inevitable and when i get home I add the plastic bags to my dog toy stuffing section of my craft room. Whenever my pup rips open her toys I simply refill them with the plastic bags and stitch them back closed. Not only does she love the sound they make, but it stops her from wanting to rip out the innards of the toys! I'm happy the bags aren't left to wander in the environment and that she's happy!
ReplyDeleteHi Amy,
ReplyDeleteHappy Belated Birthday. We try to be as green as possible. We were doing all of our cleaning with baking soda, vinegar and essential oils. we were lucky enough to find a green cleaner that is made locally called New Leaf and it works wonders. Sam is 19 months old and he spills everywhere, we use the cleaner on the carpet, tile, counters everywhere. We also traded in our swiffer for a reusable rubbermaid mop where you can put in your own green cleaner and wash the pads.
we carry our own bags everyhwere. I am giving some away at my school where I am the recycling coordinator. We send tons of different products to terracycle.net and clean up our homes and the schools at the same time.
Happy earth day!
Wow, besides the massive amount in the ocean, what struck me was that only 1 in 200 get recycled. That's ridiculous, there are really a million other things that can be done with them.
ReplyDeleteAround the house I try to be as eco-conscious as possible. I use products like salt, baking soda, vinegar and lemons to clean when I can. And every product I buy has to be earth friendly.
My friends think I'm crazy cause I bring my hand embroidered cloth napkins with us camping. Hello, you can wash them, lol.
Amazing giveway, thanks for the chance to win :)
xoxo Jackson
I use reusable shopping bags and we're trying to use more natural cleaning products. I've even made my own laundry detergent! This is a great giveaway!
ReplyDeleteOne billion bags used per minute??? Unbelieveable! And unacceptable! Thank you for this great giveaway!!
ReplyDeletejane(dot)jasmine(at)gmail(dot)com
This isn't a plastic bag "fact", but I like the idea of Ireland's plastic tax. I would definitely support that here in the US.
ReplyDeleteI'll admit, I'm not the best at remembering to take my reusable bags in the store, but a tax would certainly "remind" me. :)
To make up for it when I do forget, I always put my plastic grocery bags in the store recycling bins. Not perfect, but better than throwing them away!
Oh, and we Freecycle our unwanted items, too. :)
Any fact about the impact plastic bags have on Earth is shocking to me.
ReplyDeleteI have a hard time resisting buying totes because of this!
Also, for cleaning the only things I use are water, vinegar, baking soda, lemons, and Dr. Bronner's castile soap on occasion. It's all so cheap, healthy, and responsible :)