Gadget

I’ll admit that I’ve become a little obsessed about reusable grocery bags, but I heard the story about the place in the Pacific Ocean twice the size of Texas that has all that plastic floating around and it creeped me out. (One million pieces of trash per square mile.) I already told you about the Envirosax, which I love, but I went ahead and bought some Chico bags to compare the two styles. Hopefully someone out there in intraweb-land may find this useful.

Envirosax have a lot going for them – they’re cute, have awesome patterns, they hold quite a lot of stuff, and best of all, the handles will fit over your shoulder. Lloyd and I do a once-a-week grocery trip, and can fit all our purchases in 3 or 4 bags. The down side – it takes me a little bit of time to re-roll them, but I might just be clumsy. I also had something punch a hole in one bag. (I patched it. No need to throw it out.) Here are some diagrams of how it rolls/unrolls.

You unsnap the straps, and it pops open.

The sides are folded in thirds around the handle.

Unfold the handle, unfold the bag- viola’!

To re-roll, fold the bag in half, fold the handle down, fold the sides in thirds, roll like a little sleeping bag, snap shut. It takes longer to type the directions than it takes to roll it, but you can see how it’s a bit fussy. It’s windbreaker-like material, so it’s a little slippery. However, it’s a very sleek, compact package, and I always keep two in my tiny purse. (I ‘pimped it out’ with some elastic straps so they’d stay put.)

I haven’t taken the Chicobags shopping yet, but they are just the same size as a regular plastic t-shirt bag. The straps can’t fit over your shoulder, but I think the plus for these is the ease of putting it back in the bag. (It goes wicked fast.) To use the bag, just undo -the cinch cord, grab the bag and pull it out.

It comes out inside-out, so shake it right-side out and the pouch becomes a little pocket inside to hold your keys or whatever. Here are the two together for size comparison:

And just for kicks, a plastic bag.

So, overall, I like them both. The Envirosax will always live in my purse, but when I don’t have a purse, the Chico bag has a handy little clip that could attach to anything. They both pack up equally small. The fabric seems similar. The Envirosax holds more, but the Chicobag is so much easier to put away. They both get an A+ for gadgety-ness in my book!

(I also realize that now I have an over-abundance of reusable bags. Maybe I can give some away for Christmas?)

UPDATE: I recently ordered a Chicobag Vita, and was wondering if they made it out of a different fabric because it was so crinkly.  Looking back on this post, I see that mine used to be crinkly, too.  They soften up after a couple of uses.