Posts Tagged ‘reusable bag’

Bag Karma

Saturday, June 4th, 2011

All of us at Clean Planet are excited to be part of the Eco Bazaar, Eco Fest organized by Mocha Treehuggers in association with The Root. We’re looking forward to meet you and discuss things green and good.

On the occasion of World Environment Day we’d also like to share some ‘BAG KARMA‘ with you. Got an old re-usable bag in fairly good condition (no plastic please)? Donate it to us and buy a spanking new Clean Planet tote for 10% less! See you Sunday 5 June 2011 at Mocha Mojo, Bandra .

The bags collected will be given to those who can’t afford them..thereby helping them to go green.

The 'model' totes…

Tuesday, May 17th, 2011

The local veg market

Compact Tote among veggies

Compact Tote with even more veggies

The eco purchase in progress

The vibrant fruits and veggies

"I wish all my customers would bring a reusable bag to buy veggies"..thought the veg seller :)

We’ve been taking pics of our tote family for the online store. We’re trying to be as eco friendly as possibly using natural light for most of the pics. Folks in the building intrigued, amused, think we have a really cool job (which we do).

The bags virtually have a mind of their own. They change their expressions often and unexpectedly ( we now have huge admiration and respect for folks who photograph birds and animals )

Last week the scene of action moved to a local vegetable market for photography of the Compact Totes . The vegetable sellers and customers who happened to be at the market then were curious and interested. One good outcome was that it helped them to appreciate the value of a reusable cloth bag..

A few decades ago a visit to the local veg market necessarily meant carrying you own reusable bag . The veg vendors had no plastic to give away. This is one of the aspects of life where it’s appropriate and essential to say “let’s bring back the good old days”.

Our only world..

Sunday, April 3rd, 2011

For the first time ever – at a Mumbai supermarket was able to buy 4 different fruits without a single plastic bag ! Requested the store associate to avoid plastic bags. Handed her my Compact Tote . The store didn’t have many customers in the morning . Possibly therefore she accepted. It was clearly a new task. Other store associates gathered around her to see why she was juggling fruits on the weighing machine when they should be neatly packed in individual plastic bags.

Larger/busy super markets (in Mumbai ) don’t have the people or the bandwidth for handling such a request . Often fishing out a reusable bag and insisting on avoiding plastic would evoke expressions akin to witnessing shoplifting or something equally inappropriate.

It appears that retailers are not sensitized to the avoidable waste and environmental problems associated with plastic bags. Seldom does one see store associates try to minimize the number of bags. It’s clearly not a priority or even an issue on which to train store associates.

Supermarkets in Mumbai have the practice of asking (rather insisting) that customers leave their mid-size / large bags at the entry point. Ostensibly to deter shop lifting . So it’s quite unimaginable to be able to enter a Mumbai super market with a bag that’s even partly filled with purchases made elsewhere. In that sense , shopping for veggies and fruits at the local open market is definitely more eco-friendly besides being time efficient.

Supermarkets in India can help create a more sustainable world by encouraging and enabling customers to bring their own reusable bag.To be fair to the retailers there is a cultural issue of customers asking / haggling for extra plastic bags. But, when the supermarkets can enforce draconian procedures of ‘leave your bags at the entry point’ to reduce their losses they can apply some thought to reduce the loss to the wider environment of which they are a part.

Your voice as a customer counts. Pl request the stores your frequent to use eco-friendly ways to pack their products.

This is OUR world . Our ONLY world . Let’s make it sustainable.

No one can do everything. But everyone can do a LOT.

Million Bags

Thursday, March 24th, 2011

We LOVE bags. A reusable bag used consistently reduces the non-biodegradable junk choking the planet . That alone makes a bag love-worthy !:) We love creativity in all it’s myriad forms and believe that hidden within each of us is an artist .

The love for bags coupled with creativity makes for a million expressions aka Million Bags !

Starting today – mail us your creative bag idea. Draw , paint , create on your computer , use whatever material that catches your fancy..draw a bag on sand , create a bag motif with flowers , candy, stones , buttons. Use scrap paper / cloth to craft a bag , embroider . If you’re a Master (or aspiring ) Chef bake a bag shaped cake , draw with cream on soup , use dal/rajma/rice to create a bag motif…You get the gist..The whole world is your canvas.

The fun rules are :

1. It should be your creation.

2. We’re not looking for pics of actual bags (unless it is something you made yourself ).

3. Size does not matter .It has to look like a bag . It could be a 4 inch drawing or a 1 foot painting.Pl do your best to send a clear, high resolution image.

4. Mail it to millionbags@cleanplanet.in

5. Feel free to write a few lines about your creation . This is however not mandatory

6. Your entry will be featured with your name . We can mention your blog url or Facebook id also if you’d like it to be mentioned.

7. Submissions received will be reviewed on a weekly basis . The decision of the panel will be final regarding showcasing of entries.

8. Clean Planet will accept entries in good faith that they are the creations of the person submitting the entry / on whose behalf they are submitting the entry .

Entries that are approved by our eclectic , creative panel will be immortalized on our Face Book Album ‘Million Bags’. A selection of entries will be featured on Clean Planet World and other online Clean Planet spaces.

A journey of Million Bags begins with the first one..

http://www.facebook.com/cleanplanet

Cool look with the 'Bag of the Year'

Thursday, January 27th, 2011

Create joy with the 'Bag of the Year'

Monday, January 17th, 2011

A cool way to use your ‘Bag of the Year’ .

Hang in your cupboard or room to store all the happy memories of 2011..letters from loved ones , birthday cards, your accomplishments etc. Dive into the bag at any time of the year and fish out a happy memory. The joy it brings will send out vibrations to attract even more joy !:)

Hmmm….maybe we should call this ‘Bag of 2011 Joy’ !:)

Bag of the Year..

Saturday, January 15th, 2011


Bag of the Year

Wednesday, January 12th, 2011

We’re delighted to introduce ‘Bag of the Year’ by Clean Planet .

This is a super cool , functional , stylish , eco bag that helps you organize in style . The 2011 calendar is printed on both the outer faces of the bag. Hang it at home to plan your year . Store all incoming mail in it so that you never miss any mail. The stylish calendar doubles up as wall art that adds a dash of joy to any space. Carry the bag around when going shopping.

At the end of the year how do you part with a bag you’ve  grown to love ? You don’t !

Reverse the bag and use for years !:) There’s a cool message on the inside of the bag that inspires joy and reflection.

Truly ‘BAG OF THE YEAR‘.

p.s – the pic above shows the 2 outer sides and 1 inner side of the same bag !:)

Interested to buy the ‘Bag of the Year’ ? Email us at bagoftheyear@cleanplanet.in

The starfish and you

Monday, September 20th, 2010

One morning an elderly man was walking on a nearly deserted beach. He came upon a boy surrounded by thousands and thousands of starfish. As eagerly as he could, the youngster was picking them up and throwing them back into the ocean.

Puzzled, the older man looked at the young boy and asked, “Little boy, what are you doing?”

The youth responded without looking up, “I’m trying to save these starfish, sir.”

The old man chuckled aloud, and queried, “Son, there are thousands of starfish and only one of you. What difference can you make?”

Holding a starfish in his hand, the boy turned to the man and, gently tossing the starfish into the water, said, “It will make a difference to that one!”

It makes a difference that you carry a reusable bag daily and thereby reduce usage of plastic bags.

It makes a difference that you smile and and add to the joy quotient of the universe.

Your star fishes are waiting for you..

Supermarket musings..

Saturday, July 3rd, 2010

Visited a local supermarket today evening . I try to avoid going there on week ends . If I do it’s earlier in the day when the crowd is somewhat lesser.

- Use the basket instead of the cart . This alone will help to focus the purchases to essentials . Having a cart somehow seems to create the illusion that one is buying less (subconsciously comparing it with the volume of the cart ) + moving the cart is relatively effortless.  Using a  basket means that the space is limited + the basket getting heavier with every addition – is likely to limit wandering in aisles buying stuff that’s unnecessary

- Eat something before you go shopping . When hungry you are likely to buy more / snacky stuff

- Please carry a reusable bag for your purchases . It was despairing to see the volume of plastic floating around . The retailers are happy to give bags to customers . Hey , more bags means more purchases . The customers don’t seem to give plastic a second thought . Convenience rules . Sometimes I wonder where will the change come from . Retailers and (most) customers happily colluding for profit and convenience.

- Take a few mins to fill out the feedback form in the store to ask the retailer to start offer biodegradable bags .

We should not need an ‘incentive’ to be eco friendly . The fact that we inhabit earth is reason enough. Pl choose to make a difference – to yourself and to the planet.