Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Another Slice of Fried Gold

It's time for a product endorsement. Hope y'all will indulge me.

At SAFF I met a perfectly delightful gal named Jackie, who has the smashingest blog name ever - Southern Fried Goodness. You've heard it before, I'll say it again - frying makes just about everything better. Think about it. You'll agree with me, maybe even against your will.

Jackie and Denise and Betty and I were sort of discreetly and independently pawing through the options in the Plain and Fancy Sheep and Wool booth when I looked up and said, "Graylagran!" and she said, "MeanGirl!" and after about two seconds of awkwardness we did exactly what y'all would do - we pawed through that beautiful yarn TOGETHER. Skein after skein was held up to our faces, like a visit to the eye doctor - This? or THIS? Etc. We all bought yarn, and wandered off to the Ravelry meetup.

Jackie had her yarn purchases in this SUPER cool bright yellow bag with flowers printed on it...I had mine in a sweaty, crinkly white plastic bag all wrapped around the skein. Y'all, you know I had to ask about the bag - because I am like that. Turns out it was a reusable shopping bag made by Envirosax. I am always getting frustrated over the number of plastic bags they hand out at the store. I am single, I don't have a dog, and I have one tiny trash can that isn't in the kitchen. And besides - they cost money and energy to make and ship. Also, not biodegradable. It just seems like a huge waste to bring them all home and never use them again. (The exception is Target bags, I use them as trashcan liners in the W.C.) I am not saying that nobody can use them ever again, but this is an area I kept finding myself wishing I could change over the past few months.

And I get so annoyed, so unbelievably unnecessarily annoyed at them giving me five bags when two would do the job. (I also hate when they tie the handles in knots.)

Labor Day weekend my folks showed me one of their fridge bags that they take with them because they often grocery shop out of town. I bought one and usually bring it with me to carry home my cold items. I really love it. (They don't always know what to do with it when I bring it in.) I tried knitting a bag out of linen, but it's only one bag and it made me even more annoyed than getting too many bags.

So y'all know I bought some Envirosax. Here's why, the real kicker: these tasty treats ROLL UP into a small 1" x 2" tube complete with a snap to hold them shut so you can carry 'em in your purse. Five come in a pouch - I keep one in my purse for small stop-ins or if I need to bring some extra stuff to/from work, and the other four in the backseat of my car. The pouch is a little bigger than a paperback book.

What really sells me on these, in other words, is ease of use. It's easy to grab them out of the back seat (I know, I've done it!). They hold an absolute ton. A 6-roll pak of TP fits in one bag vertically with plenty of room to spare on the sides. They are easy to load up, sturdy, washable, and they look cool. Apart from the $39 price tag, there's really nothing bad about them.

About that price tag...I know I could just get tote bags and buy the $2.99 bags at Kroger. But something so portable is naturally going to be less work to use, so I figure what I lost in a one-time cost I'll gain in compliance. I am maybe just dorky, but a cool, stylish bag stands a better chance of being carried by me. The company was fabulous, shipping was fast and cheap, and the quality is awesome.

I'm about the world's worst environmentalist. But I do think that if I'm not using the bags again and there's an easy alternative, then so much the better. I hope these catch on like wildfire and are as popular as pork rinds at a barbecue. It's a fairly easy way to do a really good thing and look cool doing it - and I don't know about y'all, but I always need more cool points. Thank you Jackie, for giving me a way to earn them!

4 Comments:

Blogger Kaviare said...

They have NZ and Australian stores, too, for your international readers (like me). I am coveting these. I have something like this from a storage shop and I love it, but the handles are too small to be really functional. Someone at work has one of these, and she can sling it over her shoulder no problems. She's had it for at least two years, uses it as a handbag almost every day, and it;s only jsut starting to look a bit ratty on one corner where it got wet one time.

Want.

11:26 PM  
Blogger meg said...

Thank you so much for posting these. I'm getting some ASAP.

12:24 PM  
Blogger Annie said...

Very cool. I'm going to go check out those bags!

10:48 AM  
Blogger jackie said...

wow! i don't think anyone's written a blog post featuring ME before! dang! and i get credit for endowing cool points, too. go me. :)

aren't these bags the bomb!? i am the same way--their cuteness goes a long way toward making me actually use them. i am buying a ton as christmas gifts.

9:17 PM  

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