We LOVE the Non-Boring!

This website is dedicated to providing reusable bags to the not-so-ho-hum consumer. Sure, we all like to do our part for the environment. And, anything "green" is super in these days. But geesh, can't we do it with some FLAIR? :)

My dream is to eventually offer several styles of bags for several different purposes. Let's see - I need a cute shopper for when I go to the mall, and one for the farmers market....the ideas are endless! Check back with us while we are growing, and see what new adorable products pop up!

The Sweat Sack Story

I started doing Bikram yoga twice a week to keep my sanity with an OVERLY full time computer geek job. Bikram yoga is done in a room that is around 105 degrees, so you sweat your face off. After being in that room for an hour and a half, your yoga clothes are SOAKING wet! So, in the locker room, they have a roll of miniature trash bags and twisty ties so you can seal off your dripping gear so it doesn't soak the rest of your bag.

So I get home, and throw the clothes in the wash, and throw the bag in the trash. Pretty soon, I start to realize how many bags I am throwing out. I already bring my own bags to the grocery store so I don't have to throw away THOSE bags, so what the heck am I doing?

Being crafty as I am, I put my quilting aside, and make myself a stuff sack the same size as that plastic trash bag, but put a waterproof liner in it, super cute fabric on the outside (I hate to be boring), and a drawstring to hold it closed. And The Sweat Sack was born!

After every yoga class, there is a line of folks in the locker room waiting to rip off a plastic bag to stuff their sweaty gear into. After encouragement from my bf, I wanted to make these cute little bags available to anyone else who is earth-conscious like myself, and want to prevent bags from going into landfills. It may be a small feat for 1 person to save 1 bag in the grand scheme of things. But, to this 1 person, it feels AMAZINGLY BIG in my heart. :)

The Sweat Sack is a bag for sweaty clothes. It's a bag for wet clothes. It's a bag for wet towels. It's a bag for swim gear. It's a bag for cloth diapers, even! Anything that is soggy and needs to be stored to prevent the soiling of all the rest of your stuff is MEANT for this bag. Use it, abuse it, enjoy it. You're helping the planet!

To Care For Your Sweat Sack: Yes, it is machine washable! But that wastes a TON of water, and you will find that by just turning it inside out to air dry after dumping your wet gear out of it (right away - don't leave them in there for days - ew!), it dries VERY clean and VERY non-smelly! If you need to wash it (yup...you left your stuff in there for 3 days, didn't you?), hand wash or machine wash on gentle in cold water, and line dry, or tumble dry in the dryer on air. A heated dryer will wear out the polyurethane coating on the lining fabric, so care for your bag, and it will last!

The EnvironMate Story

So, as much as I want to take full credit for this, this bag was first created by my mom in 1983. :) Yes, she has been carrying her VERY OWN handmade grocery bags to the grocery store for that long! I noticed these bags stuffed in the back of her car a few months back, and she pulled them out for me. I say, "Mom, are these the same bags you have been using since I was a kid?" "Yup! They sure are!" She stated proudly.

Well, that's enough testing for me! Seeing how perfectly these bags have held up over TWENTY years, after countless runs to the grocery store, I gently "stole" the pattern from her. I added the 'flair' by picking some really fun home decorator fabric for the outside, cuz why can't you look cute in the grocery store??

I've made a few of these for myself (to replace my boring 'paper-bag' colored reusable bags), and have had nothing but admiration for them when I take them through the line. Since so many people have asked me where I got them, I decided to make them available, just like my Sweat Sacks. I assume that there are many folks out there just like me who would MUCH rather have a fun, funky, fashionable, stylish, CUTE grocery bag! I do! :)

Happy, HAPPY shopping!