Thursday, January 24, 2008
Publix bags
I really dig Publix's canvas bags. Sturdy, deep, and reliable, you can pile in about as many groceries as are traditionally put in three or four plastic bags (or, in the case of the overly zealous baggers, possibly 10 or 20). We've bought enough to cover our grocery shopping needs, and have one set per car.Lately, though, I started to notice a disturbing trend. At some Publixes, the canvas bag has been replaced with a smaller bag that is made of reconstituted plastics. It's touted as being reusable like the canvas, but can't hold as much and isn't as sturdy - Kira was using one to take her books from the house to car, and going less than fifteen feet on the concrete caused the bag to tear.
The recycled plastic bag costs about a third of the retail for the canvas bag, so I imagine the move to them is due to lack of customer interest in the other.
Sadly. the new bags are made in China. Which means, if they are made of recycled plastic, that the plastic probably was made in China, shipped to the United States, shipped back, and then made into the bags.
The canvas bags? They are apparently sewn by blind people in the United States.
It doesn't look like the canvas bags are being phased out right now, so I would assume this is to offer an alternative product to see which the consumer prefers.
Labels: It's Not Easy Being Green, Modern Life, Unbridled Hope for the Future
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