B.B. Begonia reusable shopping bags provide convenience and an alternative to environmentally harmful plastic bags. The stylish prints on our bags allow you to still look fashionable while also caring fo the environment.
The bag is great for travelling as it is compact enough to fit in a purse when rolled up. Use it for work, school, play or for your next shopping trip.
Each bag is 19.5 inch wide and 16.5 inch long. The bag can fold up to a small compact roll 4 inch by 1.5 inch in diameter. The bag is lightweight and weighs just 1.4 ozs. However it is made of super strong 100% polyester fabric with reinforced seams. Each bag can comfortably hold upto at least 45 lbs of weight which is almost equivalent to weight carried by two plastic grocery bags.
The prints on each bag are done through a heat-transfer process. What this means is that the print will last longer and will be more durable than most other reusable bags on the market. All dyes used in the printing process are eco-friendly and no carcinogenic amides are used.
The material used in the bags is also water resistant. While not waterproof, it will still hold most small spills from leaking out of the bag.
How do I wash my bags ?
Machine wash cold, line dry. However if you wish to lower your carbon footprint, we recommend that you wash your bags only when really needed.
How green ( environment friendly ) is the b.b.begonia reusabale shopping bag ? Heavy duty multiple use shopping bags are often considered environmentally better than single use paper or plastic shopping bags. A sturdy, reusable bag needs to be used 11 times to have lower environmental impact than using 11 disposable plastic bags. Also it takes more than four times as much energy to manufacture a paper bag as it does to manufacture a plastic bag. And, most paper comes from tree pulp, so the impact of paper bag production on forests is enormous. In 1999, 14 million trees were cut to produce the 10 billion paper grocery bags used by Americans that year alone. Paper bag production delivers a global warming double-whammy as forests (major absorbers of greenhouse gases) have to be cut down and then the subsequent manufacturing of bags produce greenhouse gases. There is some debate about the use of bio-degradable bags as well. Both bio-degradable bags and regular plastic bags require almost similar amount of energy and natural resource to produce. And the use of bio-degradable bags does nothing to reduce our consumption of bags which is at the root of the problem. Most importantly, the garbage collection in most towns and cities is not sophisticated enough to sort out bio-degradable bags from the regular plastic bags. As such they end up in regular landfills and do not decompose easily due to lack of exposure to sun, air and moisture. While the b.b.begonia bags are made of Polyester (which use fossil fuels), it is extremely durable (polyester fiber has very high tenacity) and will last for years. The reusable aspect of this bag makes it very environment friendly, as it reduces waste and eliminates the use of one-use products. And b.b.begonia bags are beautiful, affordable and convenient. Where are b.b.begonia bags made ?The prints of the b.b.begonia bags are designed and developed in Winnipeg, Canada. The bags are manufactured in China.
Our goal is to make affordable, quality products. Central to this goal is a belief that these bags be made in a way that respects the people who manufacture it. This means safer working conditions, legal working hours and reasonable pay for work done. We only work with factories that aspire to fair labour practices. How do I re-fold the bag?
CANADA
Every week in Canada, 55 million shopping bags are taken home from grocery stores, plus millions more from other stores.
On the average, every person in Canada puts 16-18 kilograms (35-40 pounds) of plastic in the garbage each year.
Plastic bags take between 20 and 1,000 years to break down in the environment. Plastic cannot be burned or buried safely. When it is burned it produces fluorocarbons which are carcinogens. When buried it blocks the natural supply of air and water to the soil. This affects plant life directly and the chain of life indirectly. This can even cause landslides when plant life in mountains is reduced. Plastic bags clog sewage pipes and often cause water to be stagnant. They reduce the water-retaining capacity of the soil and this in turn affects the water table. Plastic bags can be seen floating in most water bodies of the world.
Millions of mammals, birds, reptiles and fish are reported killed every year by ingesting plastic bags. Turtles in particular are prone to mistaking plastic bags for jellyfish, ingesting them and dying of intestinal blockage.
A study of albatross chicks on Midway Island, near Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, found that nine out of 10 birds had plastic garbage in their gullets.
Scientist all over the world are trying to develop environmentally friendly plastics. Until that happens we need to think of all the ways we can reduce the number of plastic bags that go into our landfill sites. (Source: Centre for Environmental Education – News and Feature Service)
WORLD
According to the Wall Street Journal, the U.S goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually. Each year an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide. That comes out to over one million per minute.
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