Waste Not, Want a New ChicoBag

Quickly…what do you think this little package is? (Don’t cheat and look at the labels! The pink pen is in the picture only for scale.)

Now, with a show of invisible hands, how many of you guessed a bag that could hold FOUR Harry Potter books with room to spare? No one? How many of you guessed a bag that is made of recycled products? Anyone?

What you’re looking at is the latest in eco-friendly toting – ChicoBag. ChicoBag evolved from an idea by founder Andy Keller to reduce the number of single-use plastic bags that ended up in the landfill or were strewn across streets. After the initial design of a white Original, ChicoBag now offers seven different new bag collections which include day packs, re-usable grocery bags, messenger bags, shoulder bags, sling bags, and others. Each bag folds into it’s own tiny pouch to become a package that is just 6″ x 7.5″ (like the messenger bag) or smaller, like the original bag, which shrinks down to a minuscule 3″x4″ (that’s smaller than a postcard!)

What makes ChicoBag unique are the products made of what they are calling rePETe^TM. rePETe^TM products are made using recycled content. The PET refers to recycled polyethylene terephthalate that is frequently used in plastic drinking bottles. ChicoBag figured out how to use recycled PET (rePETe^TM) to create an entire line of bags of different shapes and colors. All rePETe^TM ChicoBags will have rePETe^TM logo, which says the fabric used is 100% recycled PET, and will list the different materials with the percentage of recycled content that were used to make the bag.

The messenger bag I received was made of:
Fabric: 100% Recycled PET
Hardware : 100% Recycled Nylon
Cord: 100% Recycled PET
Strap Liner: 100% Recycled Polypropylene
Carabiner: 97% Recycled Aluminum
The bag also has a rePETe^TM recycle symbol that tells me it is 80% recycled content.

The result is a spacious and durable messenger bag. It has a large zipper on the front and two hidden magnets to keep the flap closed. You can flip the little pouch that you fold the bag into inside-out to create a 2nd interior zipper pocket. There are also two elastic side pockets that can easily fit a water bottle or re-usable coffee mug. The shoulder strap is adjustable in length, and is 2 inches wide, which helps prevent the strap from digging painfully into my shoulder.

ChicoBag bags are convenient and environmentally friendly totes that are useful and compact. I love that they can be folded down into tiny packages that can be clipped (using the attached caribiner) to your carts, keychains, backpacks, etc. so they’re easy to find and remember. With stores like Target and Whole Foods offering $0.05 refunds if you use a re-usable bag, purchasing a ChicoBag will be one of the few times a bag could pay for itself (over time, of course.)

Check ChicoBag out online at www.chicobag.com, where you’ll be able to see all of  the different bags and colors available, and purchase them online.

And just to prove I wasn’t kidding about the four Harry Potter books:

Disclaimer: No compensation was given for this review. I did receive a sample ChicoBag messenger bag  for the purpose of writing this review. This did not influence my opinions.