Monday, March 22, 2010

Ziploc Evolve Bags Make the Effort Toward More Responsible

This past week my bloggy friend Anna, from the super cool Etsy shop Almost Precious, and I worked out the details for me to ship her a whole bunch of beading supplies. Then while grocery shopping I happened upon these new Ziploc® evolve™ sandwich bags and I was intrigued to say the least.

Made by utilizing 25% less plastic (than their original Ziploc counterparts), by utilizing less overall energy consumption in their production (intended to help reduce emissions), through the power of wind energy (up to 50% of the energy associated with the creation will come from wind power) and packaged in recycled cardboard (100%, 35% of which is post-consumer). These bags are a step in the right direction.

Now I know what many of you are thinking, they are still plastic, still using fossil fuels and still part of a ‘one and done’ mentality and that is definitely all true but sometimes change comes in the form of baby steps for some who might be more resistant. Busy parents who still package their kid’s lunch in sandwich bags at least have a more environmental option now. I feel better knowing that if they were going to buy them anyway, at least there are smart choices to consider.

Over time, this awareness in behavior might transition into packing sandwiches in reusable containers, but in the here and now I like to see companies making some kind of step, any step, towards a more responsible option. And they were only about $.30 more expensive for the box of 50 bags as compared to the store brand sandwich bags.

I can’t Leaf Rate the bags as I’m not really sure how they work, my whole intention was to use them for separation and storage during the shipping process and I imagine Anna will see to it they are disposed of properly as she is a fellow Greenie. Perhaps she will also be so kind as to let us know how they held up during shipping and if they are a decent storage option on the whole??

If you’re a person who plans to buy them anyway, I recommend looking into Ziploc® evolve™ as a more responsible option.

1 comment:

Green Ayer News said...

I've been using these for months for the occasional lunch item that doesn't fit my reusable containers or if I'm too tight on time to hunt down the perfect reusable (seldom more than a couple of lunch-size baggies a week). Don't know why I didn't write about them, but I'm glad you did. There's also a gallon size...don't know why they don't make quart size, or maybe the stores don't carry them. Anyway, if you gotta use baggies, these at least demonstrate that companies can get innovative about how they do things. I'd be even happier if they made all their bags this way instead of just a portion...but reusable is still best!