happyfrog testing team: the reusable bag

Since DaveO bestowed $100 upon Keira and I to spend at happyfrog friendly and listed establishments I haven’t done much shopping. However, I bought something today and will deem is my first official purchase as a happyfrog tester, and it’s from a store you might not expect.

We’ve seen the emergence of reusable shopping bags around town, and there’s plenty of talk in the blogosphere as well about the important of reducing your plastic bag usage. (Metroblogging: Ban Plastic Bags Now and Plastic Bag Ban. Keira-Anne: Slopes and Totes).

John and I have cloth Safeway bags for our shopping, which are pretty great as they can hold the same amount of two plastic bags and are a lot more comfortable to carry on the long walk home. I now have something a little more universal which I picked up at Zellers. Yes, I’m mentioning Zellers in a eco-friendly blog post – here’s why:

Hbc is a recognized retail leader in sustainability practices in the areas of ethical sourcing, environment and energy, associate wellness and community investment. For the last five years, the Company has been one of the few Canadian retailers to issue a formal report on its progress in these areas. Going forward, all aspects of this program, as well as new policies and customer products will be part of the Global Mind brand…

…We will offer our customers environmentally friendly products under the Global Mind brand.Reusable shopping bags; Cold water detergent by Truly and Energy Star products will be available at stores across Canada. [Hbc News Release]

I picked up a nylon “Esprit Global/Global Mind” bag today for a whopping $0.99, which beats the heck out of some of those $40 designer go-green bags out there. I’ll toss this tiny, collapsible pouch in my work bag for impromptu grocery store trips on my way home, or for any time I just need something extra in which to carry items.

It’s great to shop local and at mom n’ pop places but when you can find that the big wig department stores are also making an environmentally conscious effort, it’s worth noting as well. I found out that Hbc actually has an entire website dedicated to social responsibility [CSR] and better yet, they have added incentives for using your cloth bags when shopping at their stores.

The bags are available in select stores with broader distribution to all Hbc locations scheduled for November 1, 2007. Customers will receive 1,000 Hbc Rewards points when they purchase any of the Global Mind bags, and 100 points every time they use the bags while shopping at an Hbc store. [Hbc News Release]

I forgot my points card today but I’ll make up for it in the future when I whip out my Global Mind pouch for my next commercial excursion. And since the bag was so cheap, that means it’ll get a lot of use. Now, just 99.01 happyfrog dollars to go!

Keira and I will be blogging all of our happyfrog purchases. You can read our posts in our “happyfrog” categories:

Keira-Anne.com/category/happyfrog
and
Miss604.com/category/happyfrog