How To Use Reusable Shopping Bags Properly

With all of the reports about environmental protection and the landfills being overloaded with plastic the idea of using reusable shopping bags is becoming increasingly more popular. These bags have been known to make an impact in the reduction of plastic waste since they were first introduced to the market. However, while they have made some positive strides in improving our environmental conditions they have had some new issues that we all need to be aware of. Studies have shown that as practical as they are, they can very easily become a breeding ground for bacteria if not handled properly. Here are a few tips on how to use reusable shopping bags properly.

Regular Washing

It is easy for these bags to pick up contaminants either from the food that we carry or the environment in which they are transported. For this reason, many food-borne bacteria can accumulate on them and eventually be transferred to the foods we eat or directly to the people who use them. Research has shown that at least half of these reusable bags have been found to have coliform and 12% of them are carrying E. coli. The best way to handle this problem is regular washing, which can significantly reduce the amount of bacteria that can be collected on your reusable shopping bags.

Do Not Cross Pack

This means that you want to be careful not to mix foods or other products in your bags. Raw foods like meat, poultry, and fish should be kept separate from vegetables and other food products. This will protect the foods from leaking into fresh foods and cross contaminating them. Resist the temptation to use these bags for other things besides food items. Carrying around your gym clothes, books, and other items in your reusable shopping bags is a sure fire way to bring contaminants into your food supply.

Store Them Properly When Not in Use

It is easy to think that leaving them in your car is a convenient way to remember them when you're out and about but this could be a dangerous practice. Aside from the fact that the trunk or glove box of your car could have lots of contamination in them there is also the danger that comes from the higher temperatures inside a locked car. These high temperatures can encourage the bacteria that do accumulate to grow much faster on your reusable shopping bags. Make sure that they are stored in a clean, cool, and dry place to prevent any kind of cross contamination.

Always make sure that you buy bags that are made from nylon or some other material that resists lead and other toxic heavy metals as these can also get into your food supply and cause health risks. When you're ready to buy your new bags make sure that you look for those that have been certified to be contaminant-free or at least try to find lead-free reusable shopping bags. This will be very effective in protecting the health of your family while at the same time doing your part to keep the environment free from the contamination of a plastic overload.

Reasons To Use Promotional Bags, Reusable Grocery Bags And Similar Products

With more and more focus being placed on saving the environment it's no surprise that so many products like promotional bags, reusable grocery bags and other similar items are being used. There are multiple functions that this kind of merchandise manages to support, so whether you're using them for personal or business use you can personalize them to suit your needs. For a few of the different reasons you might like to try these out.

Saving The Environment

The most noteworthy reason that promotional bags, reusable grocery bags and the like are so popular comes down to their effect on the environment. As time goes on, and resources begin to fade, people are becoming increasingly aware of how important it is to save what's left of the planet, by finding ways to waste less. These sorts of sacks all tend to be made out of recyclable fabrics or materials such as nylon, or cotton, and give you the ability to handle different sizes and shapes, as well as varying weights. Books, laptops, food and many other items can be transported from shops, the library, or between work and home without ever using a disposable plastic tote.

Economic Balance

Promotional bags, reusable grocery bags, and similar items of this nature offer certain financial benefits as well. Whether you're a consumer or a retailer you stand to come out with a little more cash in the bank because if you're shopping with them you don't need to buy more than one or two, and you can take them every time you've got to go and pick things up. On the other hand, a provider of goods no longer feels obligated to offer free plastic sacks, and can reap a profit through these durable cloth sacks instead.

Supporting Local Business

This change in method of product transportation gives local businesses small and large the opportunity to make an extra profit, and gives consumers the ability to support the home team by buying these items from places around your city or town, rather than taking advantage of the free items being offered for carrying goods. Promotional bags, reusable grocery bags, can be branded or personalized to reflect the logo of your company, which also goes toward extra advertising purposes. You can get your services or products known and have the name of your business paraded through town as people do their shopping at other stores or locations rather than just your own.

Staying Prepared

Finally, these promotional bags, reusable grocery bags, and similar products allow you to be prepared at all times. These items travel well for promotional events where you need merchandise to give out to advertise your business. And for consumers these sacks store easily in a woman's purse or the trunk of a car so that shopping for dinner ingredients or picking up a few items from the local library is quick and much more convenient. Even if you're heading out without any thought of shopping in mind, you'll never know when you may need to carry a few unexpected items out of the office, or if your spouse may suddenly ask you to pick something up on the way back to the house.

Ways That Custom Drawstring Backpacks Could Make Your Life Better

Purses and bags are some of the most popular forms of accessory out there, so it makes sense that products like custom drawstring backpacks have become so popular recently. Used to carry a number of different types of items, and available in multiple colors, styles, and prints, these sacks allow you to transport objects that need to come with you while representing a company or other brand that can be printed onto your bag before purchase to give it a more original look. There are various ways that these come in handy over time, for more information on why you should consider them, read on below.

Lost And Found

It may not be the most glamorous reason, but custom drawstring backpacks are a great product to keep your things sorted and separate on class trips or summer camps. If your kids tend to travel in groups, or be involved in many different sports opportunities then these bags can be ordered with their names printed directly on the fabric, making it difficult to lose, and much easier to notify you if the item is found.

Part of the Gang

These sacks are also a great way to build team spirit and fit in as part of a group, because custom drawstring backpacks can be created to boast the logo and team name of any sports group of school team you're a part of. Even a photo of the school mascot can be portrayed on the material of this kind of product if you order through the right supplier, which makes for an excellent item for fundraising and bringing the team closer together before a big game. It also allows you to locate other members of your group if you're on a trip somewhere.

Family Matters

Family vacations are a great way to spend some quality time with kids and adults alike, but keeping the group together and having a way to locate each other if you stray during an activity can be made much easier by purchasing custom drawstring backpacks. Print your last name, a family photo, or the title of your holiday escape to draw attention in a way that only a member of your family would recognize. This isn't a way to track somebody if they get lost on an outing, but it's definitely a great way to stand out in a crowd. This is also a good idea for a reunion trinket, so that everybody in your troupe remembers the occasion with a souvenir.

Hobbies and Interests

Your interests are important, so express them by putting your hobbies and interests on the front of custom drawstring backpacks. Most retailers, who make and sell these items don't allow commercial content to be printed, but if you use your own original words or prints then you can still show your friends and family what's important to you by wearing it on your bag. You can also use original works of art that you've created yourself to express your creativity rather than your likes.

Ways To Use Custom Drawstring Backpacks

With the concept of personalized t-shirts becoming popular the concept of creating other unique accessories such as custom drawstring backpacks has also caught on. The different designs and themes for these products range in quality, cost, and materials, and give customers a chance to introduce their own individuality to an otherwise blank canvas. What might be the reason for the fascination with these items is that you can wear your own idea for a logo wherever you go, and this allows you to match friends, family members or teammates. For 4 ways that you can use this idea in your wardrobe check out the tips below.

Sports Teams

One of the top reasons to have any sort of merchandise that matches is because you're on a sports team and want to show off that team spirit. Custom drawstring backpacks are an especially effective tool in this area because most sports players need bags to carry clothing or equipment in, and these lightweight products promote just such an item. Whether you're printing a photo of a mascot, the team logo, or individual player names and numbers, there's always a use for this kind of object if you're looking to promote unity.

School Spirit

Similar to the sports teams out there seeking unification, you can use custom drawstring backpacks as a fundraiser for school spirit. This sort of product can bring together your student body with fun matching bags that host photos of individual classmates, the school motto, or just the name of the school. You can purchase items like these for specific clubs or extracurricular groups and modify each set of bags to represent a part of the school.

Personalized Packs

When it comes to personalization, it's all about being unique and showing off your individuality, so if you're not looking to blend in with a custom drawstring backpack, you could stand out instead. Rather than turning this into a group project you could have a look all your own and put your name, lyrics, a photo, or a quote on your bag so that what your sack says is specific to you, rather than the student body or a team that you're in. This style of bag is versatile and can be used for a number of purposes, which makes having one tailored to your specific tastes an even better idea. It can be used to work and have a company name on it or filled with workout clothes and taken to the gym on the weekends.

Prize Pieces

Finally, you can use custom drawstring backpacks as more than a personal accessory. Due to the quality of these products and their generally low prices, they make for excellent prizes for anything from a bachelorette party to a university raffle. You can hand them out as party favors, or use it as a prize for a draw to raise money for a good cause. The fact that you can design this bag to reflect almost any theme or style makes it wonderful for souvenirs on family vacations or work retreats; get creative and use your imagination to make them work for you.

Check out our website!  greenbagpromos.com

Which Grocery Shopping Bag Should You Choose If You Want To Go Green?

Most of us are trying our best to make sure we do not needlessly damage the environment. One of the ways we can try to achieve this is by reusing our grocery bags and, wherever possible, using those that have a short life cycle or at the very least won't cause any real pollution or other dangers if disposed of at a landfill site. The reality is that entire species of bird and marine life are starting to edge close to endangered status due to the fact that they get tangled in plastic bags and die. This is as good a reason as any to stop using these bags! But which bags really are the best? Let's take a look at the life cycle of some of the most commonly used grocery bags.

The Plastic Bag

The plastic bag is seen as the big Bogey Man of carrying utensils. This is due to the fact that we believe them to take thousands of years to decompose and that they cause the death of various animals. While this is undeniably true, it also seems as if they are actually much greener to create and dispose of than other types of bags. It seems now, however, that the issue is not that we use these bags, but rather that we do not reuse them, even if we can.

"It is estimated that only one percent of plastic bags are recycled worldwide[10]After primary use however, polyethylene bags can be recycled in numerous ways. Even without reprocessing, plastic grocery bags can be re-used as garbage bags or shopping bags. Otherwise, the polyethylene can be reprocessed and create new plastic bags, or other goods such as clothing and containers."

The Paper Bag

More and more people believe that the better bag, therefore, has to be the paper bag. However, the reality is that paper causes mass deforestation, and that a huge range of energy is needed in terms actually harvesting these trees. Indeed, paper bags are not all that green, and they also don't last very long. A paper bag can usually not be reused because they tear and rip very easily. Indeed, it now seems that the environmental impact of a paper bag is actually far worse than that of a plastic bag.

"A paper bag has a more adverse impact than a plastic bag for most of the environmental issues considered. Areas where paper bags score particularly badly include water consumption, atmospheric acidification (which can have effects on human health, sensitive ecosystems, forest decline and acidification of lakes) and eutrophication of water bodies (which can lead to growth of algae and depletion of oxygen)."

The Cloth or Fabric Bag

This leaves us with the fabric or cloth bag. The cloth bag is really seen as eco-friendly. It is often made out of materials such as bamboo or hemp, which is seen as green and clean. Not just that, manufacturers often use Fair Trade contracts in order to make these bags. However, interestingly enough, the so called eco bags are actually incredibly damaging to the environment.

"The study reports that a canvas bag is expected to last for 52 trips. With that as a reference, a cotton/cloth canvas bag user does over twice the damage to the environment that a plastic bag using grocery shopper who throws away every plastic bag they get immediately after each shopping trip."

This means, surprisingly enough, that the most eco-friendly bag is actually the hated plastic bag. The same bag that we have been told to avoid for years. However, we should also reuse it and dispose of it properly in order to be truly green.

Check out our website!  greenbagpromos.com

Reusable Shopping Bags, Why They Are So Important

We all have to make real efforts to go green. Our planet is dying, and not of old age, but of systematic murder by our own kind. Although there is little we can do to break consumerism, to stop the governments from drilling for shale gas, to stop oil spills from happening and more, there are a number of things we are able to do. One of these things is to use reusable shopping bags. Think for one minute about why we don't bring bags with us when we go shopping. Do we really need to get new bags every time and throw them in the rubbish? Or could we just as easily remember to bring bags, or have some on us permanently, and actually make a real difference to our planet as a whole? Let's take a look at a few of the reasons why you should use reusable shopping bags.

Plastic Doesn't Decompose

The green agenda must be pressed a little bit more. Did you know that when you throw a plastic bag into the rubbish, it will never truly decompose?

"This means that as long as the earth is around, so will that plastic bag you used to hold your purchases last week."

Every time you quickly pick up a carrier bag from the shops, you are contributing to further permanent waste. You will forget about that bag as soon as you throw it out, but the bag doesn't actually go away. Ever. Add to this the shocking statistics about how many plastic bags we actually use - and throw away - each year in our country alone. That currently stands at 100 billion per year. This is a frightening thing, particularly when you start to think about how many bags that means on a global level.

Plastic Kills

Besides the fact that plastic takes about 10,000 years to decompose, and besides the fact that only 1% of plastic bags in our country do not end up on a landfill site, there are other things to consider as well. You may not be the most ethical person and believe that it will only take a few more years for scientists to come up with a way to rid us of all our garbage. However, you cannot get away from the fact that plastic bags kill bird and marine life. In fact, some of these have been brought to the brink of extinction.

"It's estimated that 1 million birds and thousands of turtles and other sea animals die each year after ingesting discarded plastic bags."

Scientists can perhaps come up with a way to destroy plastic bags permanently, or to change our landfill sites into beautiful parks and homes. They will never, however, be able to return the sea turtles to our planet. They will never be able to reverse the suffering we have caused to the albatross.

Stop Following Trends

Do you know why we throw our plastic bags away? Because we have been conditioned to do so by the petrochemical industry.

"The largest opposition to the ban of plastic bags comes from the petroleum and plastics industries."

Indeed, creating plastic bags (remember 100 billion per year) is a massive industry. If we all suddenly started reusing our bags, the petrochemical industry would really feel it in their pockets. However, why not stop being a conformist and actually thinking about what you're doing? Is it really that hard to change your consumerist behavior? And if so, have you ever wondered why you think it is so hard? Using reusable bags is such a simple step to make a real difference, so why not make the change today?

Check out our website!  greenbagpromos.com

Tips To Save Money On Your Promotional Bags

Although utilizing clever advertising techniques such as promotional bags can help your business stay on top by spreading its name through the many people toting it around town, they can be quite pricey to make over the long term. This is especially true if you feel like they aren't being carried as much as you'd like. You don't want to waste good quality products on people who aren't going to help represent your brand by carrying them around. Fortunately there are a few ways you can save money when ordering and distributing these products.

Buy Bulk

One way to save on your promotional bags as with anything else in advertising is to go bulk and order in a large selection at once to reduce costs in the end. It might seem steeper than ordering small term stock, but this prevents you from paying more than one fee for shipping as well as other fees that come along with your order. Heidi Thorne of Hub Pages writes:

"It may be tough to shell out funds for a large quantity order. But if you can project your use for a year and buy them all at the same time, you'll save by taking advantage of volume discounts and a single set up charge."

Of course you shouldn't order more than you're certain your company will use throughout the year. You don't want to lose money while trying to make money so run your numbers and do some research to determine these factors beforehand.

Be Picky

Get particular about who you're giving your merchandise to; yes, you want to see your name getting out into the world, but you don't want to see it crumpled up on top of a trash can at the next corporate gathering you attend. You can guarantee yourself less waste if you only give out these products to loyal customers who have spent a certain amount or been clients a certain number of years with the company. You could also base recipients on a draw so that the totes aren't just some random free item they got at a conference, but something won, which is always a little more fun to show off.

Decrease Color Count

Obviously ink costs money and this means that the more colors you want to utilize in your logo the steeper the price will be on the final product. Ecomarketing Solutions informs that:

"Many companies of all sizes have two logos available for advertising: one is often a one-color logo for yellow page ads and black and white forms; the other is a multi-color logo for printed material."

You've got to be careful here because you don't want to waste money, but you also want the product to look good and properly depict your company or business in a positive light. There's no point in creating promotional bags that don't promote, but rather send a negative message to the people you're looking to impress. The thing to remember is that if it costs more than the item being printed on to print something then it's probably not worth it.

Order On Time

Finally, getting your order in, whether it's bulk or otherwise, on time is pretty important, especially if you want to save some money on shipping. If you don't want to pay exorbitant prices for expedited freight bills then you need to give merchandise enough time to ship through the regular mail. This also guarantees you a level of calm in knowing that your equipment will be delivered before you even need it all, which means less of a rush when it comes time to sort and distribute everything.

Check out our website!  greenbagpromos.com