I found this site and thought it was really cool and thought I’d give it a thumbs up on my site

http://www.oberholtzer-creative.com/visualculture/

Friday, July 31, 2009
A Question of Sustainability: Reusable Totes

Image of Envirosax reusable bags
(0)
Between 500 billion and 1 trillion plastic bags are used worldwide per year. To make matters worse, anywhere between 60 and 100 million barrels of oil are required to make those plastic bags every year. And then there’s the trees… The United States was responsible for clear cutting 14 million of them to produce the 10 billion paper grocery bags used back in 1999. So it’s pretty obvious reusable bags are not only the sustainable choice, but the only choice. The question is: With the myriad of sustainable totes available, which are the most effective?

Envirosax states: “We made a decision very early on to never go down the polypropylene path even though this would have been very profitable for us. We see the stronger more durable polyester envirosax bags as the new generation of reusable shopping bags. The whole point of a reusable bag is REUSE, so why make it out of a material that decays in the UV rays of the Sun has inferior tensile strength properties and rips easily as do the cheap polypropylene bags.”

Below we’ve highlighted a few totes that we thought take the idea of sustainability a little further than the rest. Please share your thoughts or lead us to other examples of sustainable totes that we may have overlooked.

Teamwork Bags: Bags from salvaged sails and tire tubes

60Bag: Carrier-bag that decomposes approximately 60 days after being discarded.

Banner Bags by Touch: Bags are comprised of leftover banner materials from the Sao Paulo, Brazil ban on all billboard advertisements.

Elbow Grease Designs: Made from discarded vinyl signs and banners.

FREITAG Limited Edition Bags: made from banners of the world’s most sizzling Contemporary Art Museums